A Change of Roles COMIC AU
by Dawn Totadile
Summary: This is an AU to the comics where one character gets a different change of roles due to a few changes in his life before the comics begin. Follow the gang and this "new" character: Collin Hedgehog, as they face the Evil Dr. Robotnik! Someone guessed the changed character of Collin's original life! I happy. R&R please! rated for later content. Trigger Warnings due to abuse/harm/PTSD
1. Chapter 1

Meet Me at the Corner of Hedgehog and Vine Part 1

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! You've ruined my schemes for the last time!" A large fat man with a red uniform that had spiked shoulders and a yellow cape growled as he pulled on a rope that held a stitched together stuffed hedgehog.

"Ha!" laughed a crab like bot as it jumped at its master's rage and enjoyment in his task.

"You and your Freedom Fighter Friends have destroyed my robot makers and foiled my foul flans… er… PLANS!" He growled as he held a cane up to it as though to tease a real enemy.

"Do it, oh circular one! Do it!" cried out the crab bot with glee.

"NOW you shall pay the price!" With a swish of the cane and a pow at the hedgehog shaped piñata, the fat conqueror had destroyed the mockery of his enemy.

"Whee!" Cried the crab robot as it scuttled about to collect candy.

The fat man grumbled as he slammed the cane down onto a desk. "How pathetic! Me, the Great Ivo Robotnik, reduced to hitting a piñata made to look like my sworn enemy!"

"Oh, but it's so good, Master!" the crab bot chuckled as he held up a piece of candy. "Try one of these caramel creams!" He offered.

A large humanoid like bot entered the room at that point with a pot in hand that seemed to be sprouting a plant. "Research and Development Swatbot #693-47892 reporting!" came the stereotypical robotic voice. It placed the plant like thing upon the desk in front of its master. "For you, oh keeper of the blubber!"

"A **_PLANT?!_** You have the nerve to bring me a **_PLANT?!_** " Robotnik screeched at his science bot.

The crab's eyes widened in anticipation as to what was going to happen. "Uh-oh…"

"YOU WORTHLESS BUCKET OF BOLTS! You know my rules! No **_SINGING, LAUGHING, READING, CUTE ANIMALS, DANCING_** … and most of all… **_NO PLANTS!_** " Robotnik started to smash the robot with his cane in his fury.

"But…" The bot tried to explain as he was being smashed into the floor. The sudden snapping of the plant in question brought the evil dictators attention over to him. "Master… the plant is not ORGANIC! It's mechanical! I call it… **_KRUDZU_**!"

"Wotzat?" Robotnik turned his black eyes to the plant as it started to whirr, bzzt, and click.

"Look!" The crab robot exclaimed.

"Gadzooks! It's true! It's a machine!"

"Hail Robotnik!" The plant like machine cried out. It looked similar to a strange venus fly trap.

"Ulp, and a scary one at that!" The crab machine looked at it with concern before it was captured by the vines of the robot. "YIKES! It grows so fast! It's got me trapped! HELP!"

"Yum!"

"A most interesting concept!" Robotnik mused as he grabbed the science bot by the neck. "How can I use the Krudzu against Sonic and his friends?"

"By having this customized burrobot seed the great forest, your lardness!" The bot exclaimed. A yellow digger bot with a drill for his nose came in and started to demonstrate its ability. "Observe how he digs a trench while spreading the seeds of destruction!" Robotnik pulled the science bot and the crab bot up with little trouble.

"A wonderfully sinister plan!" He smiled deviously. "One that only **_I_** could have conceived of!" He started to shove the two bots into the robot disposal bin. "Isn't that right, **_Burrobot?_**... or do you want to be promoted to the spare parts department, too?" He mused.

"Y-yessir…n-n-nossir…whatever you say!" The bot saluted hastily as fear rumbled through it.

 ** _Meanwhile, in the secret underground village of Knothole…_**

A young coyote with blonde hair was daydreaming as he thought about something that was unobtainable to him; the love of the teenage warrior princess. Antoine D'Coolette was a brown coyote with a French accent that wore his father's uniform in memory of him, since his father had been captured long ago. He sighed as he looked upon his fellow Freedom Fighters, 'Princess Sally is discussing strategy with Sonic instead of me, Antoine D'Coolette, military leader of the Freedom Fighters.' He shook his head, unable to hear what they were really talking about as his mind went wild.

"I dunno, Sal… maybe just an aluminum frame…" Sonic proposed as they looked at the map of their area. Sonic was a blue hedgehog who wore red sneakers and had a need for speed.

"I thought it would look nice double matted!" Princess Sally Acorn countered, her pink fur lightly starting to turn to a healthy brown as she grew up. Her black hair in a ponytail. The two pre-teens were known as the key leaders of the Freedom Fighters.

"I'm so jealous! Why doesn't she ever notice me?" Antoine muttered as he walked towards the exit of Knothole's underground village. Uncaring of the hooded figure he passed in the halls.

"Careful there, Antoine…" the cloaked person chided, as he noticed the boy was in his thoughts again.

"Let's ask Antoine…" Sally suggested as she remembered the coyote was nearby. He had just started walking away as she called to him. "Ant!... **_ANT_**!" She called, but to no avail.

Sonic just groaned. "He's lost in his thoughts… and brother, that's **_lost_**!"

"Indeed." The cloaked figure came over, his blue eyes the only distinguishable thing on him under the large green cloak. "Hmmm…" He mused at the two's map problem. "Just frame it and double mat it why don't you." He shrugged before walking in another direction.

"Thanks, Cousin. That might work."

Back with Antoine, he was contemplating how to get the princess to notice him. He groaned as he thought about it all. "Perhaps I treat her too formally… maybe I need to appeal to her feminine side!" He thought as he climbed to the surface. "Cards? Candy?... **_FLOWERS!_** " Antoine exclaimed as he left the tree stump that hid the village. "That's it! I'll pick her a lovely bouquet!" He ran through the forest looking for a flower that might peak his princess's interest. "Something unusual…ah! There's a unique-looking bit of flora…" He exclaimed, unaware of the dangers it held.

'You're about to find out how unique 'Twan!' the Burrobot thought to itself as it hid from the freedom fighter behind a tree.

" ** _AIEEEEEE!"_** cried out Antoine as he was ensnared by the Krudzu!

"Omigosh! Did you hear that?" Sally asked from the underground safety of Knothole.

"Yeah! It came from up above!" Sonic grabbed Sally by the wrist, pulling the princess at an astounding speed. "C'mon, Sally! Someone's in trouble!" As the duo made their way to the surface, "Hi ho, hi ho, it's up to the woods we go!"

As the two exited the tree stump that hid their village, they came to see Antoine entangled in the Krudzu's grasp! "Look!" Sally gasped as they spotted their friend.

"YOW! Some horrible plant has entwanned Antwine… er… entwoined Twinwan…um…Antowingwang… I mean- ** _GRABBED HIM!_** " Sonic exclaimed as he struggled to speak. This was one of the reasons that Antoine usually didn't leave the safety of Knothole without permission from the adults, the princess, or without a friend. Trouble always followed most of the group, including Sonic, it was just a matter of who was prepared to take care of themselves.

"GO BACK! SAVE YOURSELVES! I'M **_DOOMED!_** " Antoine cried out as the mechanical plant kept trying to put the squeeze on him!


	2. Chapter 2

Meet Me at the Corner of Hedgehog and Vine Part 2

Sonic jumped out to the rescue, as was his instincts. "Sonic the Hedgehog never deserts a friend in need!" He said heroically before ruining the moment with a jest. "But since there's none around right now, I might as well help you!" He snickered.

Antoine grumbled as the plants got worse around him. "Gee… what a beautiful sentiment!" He knew that Sonic was truly one of his best friends and hadn't abandoned the cowardly coyote yet, and he probably never would if he had to be honest. Though they had their differences, Antoine was also one of Sonic's best friends. Antoine's eyes widened as he noticed what the blue hedgehog was up to. "A **_Sonic Spin!_** … Be careful!" He cried out as he fell over, the vine connecting him to the main plant having been separated from him.

"Chill, 'Twan!" Sonic chuckled as he did his trick.

"Hiya, Toots!" The krudzu chuckled as it got close to where Sally was hiding.

"Hurry, Sonic! This weird plant is all over the place!"

Sonic quickly picked up the panic stricken coyote and ran back to the entrance where Sally was. "Okay, I've got the Ant-man! Let's get him back to Knothole!"

"Yes… and quickly before these plants follow us down!" Sally growled as she swatted one vine. As the tree stump shut its top down, it cut off a few that had tried to follow.

Soon after…

"Boomer! You've got to help us get Antoine free of this bizarre vine he's wrapped up in!" Sally exclaimed, not noticing the hooded figure that was with the large purple walrus in his lab. Boomer was the head tech guy in Knothole, other than Collin, but Collin didn't talk much, nor did he really leave the village. Boomer wore a yellow hat backwards and a tool belt as a sash.

"Oh, is that it? I thought he was making a radical fashion statement!" Boomer didn't seem too concerned as Antoine wasn't in any real danger by the looks of it. He was another of the coyote's best friends, even though most had a hard time understanding the French coyote.

"This is serious, big guy!" Sonic pointed out as they placed the tied up coyote on an operating table. Antoine was still flustered.

"Sonic's right! Whatever this thing is, it's taking over the great forest!" Sally groaned as she helped to lift Antoine onto the table.

Collin looked at the situation with amusement and curiosity, wondering why a plant had attacked the young boy. He was a cloaked figure if you will, who's blue eyes were the most discerning thing about him under the green cloak. He didn't like how he looked so he wore his cloak, but he was kind, having been raised with Sonic as his cousin, and as Sir Charles Hedgehog's adopted son. With his strange cloak on, he looked like a hedgehog, but only the Freedom Fighters knew the truth. He was many things, from medic to mechanic, from teacher to caretaker, Collin Hedgehog had taken on as many roles as he needed to so he could help his cousin and their friends save their world.

"Hmmm…." Boomer thought about what he needed to do in order to help out. "Ah! Good thing I've got my chainsaw handy!"

Antoine's eyes widened as he heard the motor run, causing him to shriek! Even his toupee flew off in fright! Collin's eyes widened, as did the others in the room at the bold instrument of destruction.

"Isn't that a bit much, Rotor?" Collin asked, calling the walrus by his real name.

Boomer couldn't hear him at the moment though, he was too busy sawing off the extra long part of the table so he could reach the coyote, who had now fainted, better. "I've been meaning to trim that table ever since I built it!"

Sally took notice of the unconscious coyote and felt concern. "The poor dear… he fainted!"

"Hehe, jeez Boomer, ya had me fooled! What about you, Cousin Collin?"

Collin took a deep breath and sighed in relief. "Yes, he did." Collin didn't talk much, but when he did, he always did so with purpose and meaning. "Please explain more before bringing out that monstrous device, Rotor. I didn't make it for you to scare the others with."

"Right, sorry Uncle Collin." Most of the Freedom Fighter children had taken to calling Collin their uncle, at least the youngsters did, while Sonic, being his cousin, just called the hooded figure "Cousin Collin". All in all, it made no difference to the hooded figure so long as he wasn't called… well we'll save that for later, eh? "Now I can get up close enough to Ant so I can pull this thing off of him!" Boomer explained as he started to tear at the plant. "Give me a hand guys!"

"Right!" Sally and Sonic each took a side while Collin grabbed a bucket for the plant remnants that they were tossing.

As the last of the plants were taken off of him, Antoine regained consciousness. "He's loose! Let's walk him around!" The vines had been quite constricting, almost cutting off circulation, if not almost taking his life.

"Oooog…. I feel dizzy… weak… confused…" Antoine muttered as he stumbled around.

Sally and Sonic had a side to him. "Antoine…"

"Good, he's back to normal!" Sonic teased.

The four older freedom fighters were unaware of a young two tailed fox by the name of Miles Prower coming over to the bucket of vines. Miles went by the name "Tails" and was a brown two tailed Mobian fox with red sneakers, just like his hero and big brother figure, Sonic Hedgehog.

"Oh, wow! Somebody brought in a bucket of cuttings!" Collin quickly turned to the young fox with shock as the boy whipped out a watering can. "But they're so dry! I'll give them a soaking!" Tails said cheerfully as he overwatered the bucket.

" ** _TAILS!...NO!"_** cried the group as they realized what he was doing.

Rotor started shaking like Antoine usually did. "Egad! He watered that thing!"

Sonic's pupils shrank in fear as his mind warped to what was happening. "Now that it's nourished, it'll grow like mad!"

Sally gripped at her black hair as her blue eyes widened. "Soon, it'll be all over Knothole!"

Antoine was frozen for once in fear instead of his usual shakes. "Here we go again!"

Collin took a look at the plant and tilted his head in interest. "I hope this plant is one of those rare aqua-phobic variety." He muttered to himself as he placed himself before the children to protect them.

Tails still didn't see the problem. "Hmf! Catch me doing a favor for them again!" The boy grumbled while crossing his arms.

The ground around them was rumbling as Collin tried to figure out what to do to protect everyone from one of the possibilities of what was happening.

 ** _Meanwhile, back in Robotropolis…_**

"Wonderful… Excellent! The Krudzu has almost completely engulfed the Great Forest!" Robotnik gloated as he looked through his telescope to see the forest over swarmed with the mechanical viney menace.

The fat man in red, with his left arm robotosized, made his way outside where he ordered an army of wasp like robots. "When the Freedom Fighters emerge from the forest, they'll be attacked by a squadron of Buzzbombers!" He exclaimed loudly with joy. "And if they stay in the woods, Krudzu will smother them! Either way, Sonic and his friends **_PERISH!_** " He started to laugh horribly before he suddenly shrieked; " ** _EEEK!_** " He looked bashful as he started to mutter to himself. "Sometimes I'm so evil, I even scare myself!" He blushed.

 ** _At that moment, back in Freedom Fighter HQ:_**

There were electrical sparks showering out of the metal bucket that had held the mechanical plant. Antoine and Collin were the closest to the bucket, Collin shielding the children as best as he could from the sparks with his cloak. Tails had yet to see who was under the cloak, but he knew that Collin was always there for them. Tails certainly hadn't expected such an explosive result from just watering a plant!

"Sheesh!" Boomer grumbled as he slowly approached the smoking bucket that had held most of the damage. "Is it done?"

"I'll say…" Sonic said as he came up to the bucket. He took a whiff of the smoke coming up from it. "And what a stench! … smells like an electrical fire!"

Collin scowled under his cloak. "I should wonder why you are familiar with that scent in particular, dear cousin."

"Electric… say! That just may be the answer we're looking for!" Boomer exclaimed as he grabbed one of the most intact pieces, bringing it over to his microscope in his lab. "AHA! Just as I thought! This isn't organic! It's mechanical!"

Collin twitched at that, having a sense as to where the monstrous plant came from. He knew the children would figure it out soon enough though.

Tails looked at Rotor with an impressed look. "Technology is on the **_cutting_** edge!" He joked as he realized he had watered mechanical cuts, not plant cuts.

"Huh?" Sonic was still confused.

Collin just smirked and let the walrus prodigy explain. He liked it best when the kids learned from each other. He was there if they needed him though.

Boomer took on the explanation with eagerness. "That's why it exploded when Tails watered it! It short-circuited!"

The creepy Krudzu tried to speak. "Ah, ya Faddah's Mustache!" it mumbled before dying out finally in the hands of the walrus.

"An electronic vine!" Sally gasped. "That can only mean…"

"Robotnik!" Sonic growled. He took a deep breath and tried to think. "Okay then… this will require an amazing feet of speed and skill… I'll need a 5000 foot garden hose…"

"And where do you think we're going to get one of those, Sonic?" Collin chuckled as he waived it off, his nose already detecting the scent of something much more pleasant, and much more natural.

"Besides, That won't be necessary, Sonic!" Sally smirked.

"What? But I'm the hero! I have to save the day!" Sonic whined like the 8 year old he was. Sally was 10, and Antoine and Rotor were both about 9 years old. Tails was about 4. He couldn't quite write yet, but he was able to read thanks to his friends teaching him.

"Mother nature's gonna do it for us… read him the weather report, Tails!"

Tails smirked as he whipped out the newspaper that had the weather in pictures for him to read easily. "Cloudy with a 95% chance of severe thunderstorms!"

"You mean…" Sonic was surprised. The timing was perfect.

"Exactly!" Sally smiled. "Any second now, we should hear that sweet sound!"

Collin just smiled as he started to clean up the mess the group had made that day. "I would suggest staying inside for a while, at least until all the electricity is settled down." His hands were hidden in long white gloves, like most Mobian males. Tails still wanted to know what their "Uncle Collin", or rather, Sonic's cousin, looked like under the hood.

Back at Robotropolis, Robotnik was pushing the Burrobot into the robot disposal bin. "But Master, all I did was **_SEED_** the Great Forest!" He cried out as he tried to escape his fate. A storm had ruined the mechanical plants.

Robotnik just growled as he shoved him in. "I've **_SEED_** what you've done… that's why I'm **_PLANTING_** you in the trash!"


	3. Chapter 3

You Bet My Life! Part 1

Sally, Antoine, Tails, and Boomer were struggling with a large map in the main area of the Freedom Fighters HQ one day. "Sonic the Hedgehog, it's our only hope, Boomer!" Sally groaned.

"I agree, Princess Sally! Don't you, Antoine?"

"I must admit that Sonic's our last chance!... call him, Tails!"

"Why should I call him Tails? That's my name!" Tails piped up, wondering why they always forgot about Cousin Collin or the other adults that lived with them in their hidden village whenever they had a problem.

"Never mind… we'll do it together…" Sally proposed. With that, the four called out for the hedgehog. " ** _SONIC!_** "

Sonic came along with his cousin in tow, the hooded figure being dragged so fast he nearly lost his cloak. "Wow! The Freedom Fighters sound like a Greek Chorus!... of course, with Antoine included it's more like a Geek Chorus!" The blue hedgehog snickered as he slowed to a stop. It was his way with the French coyote to tease him, though in truth, he'd help him anytime the odd fellow needed it, even if they didn't seem to get along.

Collin fixed himself as his cousin put him down. "Sonic, be nice to the others." Collin reminded the hedgehog for perhaps the millionth time since he became their caretaker. He dusted himself off and readjusted his cloak to hide his features, save for his bright blue eyes.

"So, what's the trouble?" Sonic asked. "Pollution from one of the nearby robot factories?"

"No…" was Tails response.

"Acres of trees in the Great Forest being chopped down?"

Antoine shook his head. "No…"

"A cave-in somewhere in our secret underground village?"

"No…" Rotor grimaced as their blue friend went through the usual emergencies.

"You forgot to program the VCR?" This last desperate guess got Collin to snicker while Sally shook her head.

"NO!"

"Then why call on me to make such a dramatic entrance?" Sonic questioned while tapping his foot impatiently.

"It's this map of our planet Mobius… none of us can get it to fold up right!"

Sonic's eye twitched at such a small task while his cousin took the map. "I'll help with that, Princess…"

"Thank you, Uncle Collin."

"Not a problem." He chuckled. His voice was somewhat nasally, but if you had seen under the hood at one point, one's voice could hardly be anything but with his nose broken twice and grown as it had during healing. He managed to fold the map almost as fast as Sonic could have.

Sonic sighed. "Did Mighty Mouse really start like this?" He muttered as he looked at his older cousin. Sonic knew his cousin was often trying to not be noticed, and only took his cloak off when he needed to. He wished that Collin wasn't almost as scared of things as Antoine. He did however know that when push came to shove, both Antoine and Collin would have his back if needed. He just wished he knew how to get Collin to try being a hero more often. Antoine at least went on missions and tried to be a hero. Collin just stayed behind and played doctor and teacher!

"We were pinpointing a location where the evil Dr. Robotnik is going to make a big speech!" Boomer explained. "Right here… in the **_Casino Night Zone_**!"

"Yipes! That's one scary place!" Sonic thought about how much danger his friends would be in if he brought them. "But that won't stop me!" He started running off, Collin looking at the dust trail he left in concern.

"One day that boy will learn we're all here to help him… *sigh*, until then…" Collin merely shook his head and went to set up his medical room. He had a feeling he'd need it later.

 ** _Soon…_**

"Well, well… I finally found something that Robotnik loves…" Sonic mused as he came upon the horribly designed cliché casino that was Renobotnik's Robo-Casino. "Money!"

Inside the casino was every kind of gambling game one could imagine, all with robots sitting at the games, as though that made it any better. The waitresses were giving free oil while the bots gambled, their horrid hair styles taking away from the stereotypical style they were designed and built to look like.

Sonic was just impressed. "Way past cool!... This joint is Juicin!" As he walked around, he found the stage where Robotnik was to reveal his latest sinister invention… not like the big board in front wasn't a dead giveaway. "Aha! Just as Boomer said!" He made his way over to the entrance of the main room. "Table for one, Garcon!" He spoke mockingly to the robot at the door.

"Oh? …Hmm… I don't see one, Sir… A-hem! Koff…koff…" it's hand wiggling as though it wanted a tip.

Meanwhile, backstage, Robotnik was having his red mustache groomed. "How's the house, Swatbot?" He asked the mechanical humanoid robot that had entered the room.

"Almost a sellout, your ovality!"

"Almost? I ordered the theatre to be S.R.O.!"

The bot gulped. "It's only one empty seat, master!"

Robotnik goes to peek and notices someone at the door, arguing with the bot at the door. "Ah, that's better! When I display my latest invention, this planet will be mine at last… despite those accursed Freedom Fighters!" He got a better look at the shadow trying to get into the door. " ** _GADZOOKS!_** Speaking of which… is that who I think it is at the entrance?" He rubbed his black eyes with small red lights for his irises. "YES! It's Sonic the Hedgehog! Well, good! He can help me demonstrate my prototype!" He schemed.

Back at the entrance, the bot was still trying to get a dollar out of the hedgehog. Sonic wasn't impressed and dashed by, causing the bot to start spinning so fast he started to fall apart. "Get real, Buckethead… you want a tip?... Cross at the green, not-in-between!" Sonic made his way to the last empty seat, which was up in the front row and allowed him sight of the whole show. "All right! Front and center!"

"Ladies and gentlebots!" Crabmeat, the crab robot that kept having to get rebuilt, announced. "Let's hear it four our fearless, flabby leader… ROBOTNIK!"

The fat man himself came onstage with a lame joke as his opening. "Thankew! Wotta crowd! The last place I played was so small, the Double 'A' batteries were stoop-shouldered!" Some of the bots laughed. "But seriously folks…" He held up a large purple orb that had smaller purple orbs with spikes on them spiraling around it. "This is my most recent badnik… Orbinaut! See how his maceballs allow him to hover…" He said as the bot did as asked. "Best of all, they can be launched with deadly accuracy at an enemy!" He chuckled as he pointed to Sonic in the front row. "For example, Sonic the Hedgehog!" The Orbinaut attacked said hedgehog.

Sonic passed out as a mace ball hit him hard on the head. He was out cold.

Part 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog has been subdued…" A swatbot announced as he entered a room carrying a large glass ball with a dizzy Sonic the Hedgehog inside. "…and is ready to go, oh Obese one!"

"Excellent! Put him in the machine!" Robotnik chuckled as he made his way over to an oversized pinball machine.

"Oog… anybody get the 1-800 number of that truck?" The ditzy hedgehog held his head as he started to regain consciousness.

"He's jammed so tight inside that super-thick glass ball, he can't maneuver!" Robotnik laughed as he pulled on a giant pull slide. "Perfect for my giant pinball machine!"

Sonic regained his stability at that point. "HEY! WHOA! TIMEOUT!" He panicked as he realized he was in trouble. 'I hope Collin can patch me up after this.' As the game started, Sonic became the literal pinball in a giant game. "YIPE! 20,000 VOLTS!" He cries out in pain as he bounces all over the place. Robotnik just laughs the entire time. As Sonic exits the machine, still trapped in the glass ball, he feels sick and dizzy again. "Woo-ha! I don't think I could live through **_THAT_** one more time!"

"GOOD! Then I'll send you through a **_Dozen_** more times!" The fat maniacal tyrant laughed. Robotnik then turned to the nearest swatbot. "Swatbot! Re-insert the hedgehog!"

"My lumpy lord! You should know that someone won fifty cents in the casino!" The swatbot in question saluted with a clank. Sonic was still stabilizing himself and trying not to lose his lunch in the small glass ball.

" ** _WHAT?_** " Robotnik stormed off, momentarily not caring about his prisoner. "Don't they know the rules?" He marched out the room towards the main casino. "If you try to beat the house, the house beats you…" He picked up a large hammer. "With a hammer!" He looked back at the guards at the door. "I'll be right back!" The two bots saluted as the fat one marched off.

Sonic had regained his senses for the moment as he saw his chance for freedom. 'Hmmm… this could be my only chance!' He started to grind his sharpened spines against the glass ball, cutting it somewhat loose so he could escape. 'I'm too snug in here for a **_Sonic Spin_** , but if I use my spines like a glass cutter… man, I hope this works…'

 ** _Soon…_**

"Ah, yes…" Robotnik came back in with a dastardly smile as he held a large stone mallet over his shoulder with his signature red "R" on it. "Business before pleasure! Now…" He looked at the hedgehog who was still trapped. "Where were we?" He asked rhetorically. His voice was sickeningly sweet about this.

"You requested the hedgehog go back into the pinball machine!" The swatbot responded as it picked up said hedgehog and started towards the machine.

"Ah, blow it out your circuit board, Rustpot!" Sonic grumbled as he was lifted into the machine. 'I hope this works…'

Robotnik chuckled as he pulled back on the starting mechanism. "Prepare for a perilous punishing, pulse-pounding and profound predicament, blue punk!"

Sonic had to pause and look at his foe for a second. "Who writes your dialogue? Al Literation?" He didn't have time to ponder that much as with a "Twang" and a "CRASH" the glass ball that held Sonic was shattered! "It worked! I'm free!" Sonic jumped with glee. "Now I can go into a Sonic Spin and bust this thing up big time!" Sonic laughed as he went crazy on the machine, bashing it right and proper for the pain it had given to him.

"Gadzooks!" Robotnik backed up in shock before ordering the orbinaut. "Orbinaut! Attack 'Little pig man'!"

Sonic wasn't amused with the insult to say the least as he looked over the broken machine's top. "Gimme your best shot, Badnik!" The orbinaut did just that, sending two of its maceballs over with a "Zip" and a "Zing". Sonic deflected them with a Sonic Spin right at Robotnik and the swatbot. "And I'll deflect your shots to where they'll do the most good!"

Minutes later…

"Okay… ** _B_** as in Bomb…" Sonic was reading off of a bingo card as he ran from the casino. " ** _I_** as in inconspicuously placed…" He smirked as he thought about how this place would be of no trouble to them for a while. " ** _N_** as in nine seconds to go…" He made it to a safe distance to watch the fireworks if you will. " ** _G_** as in get to a safe distance…" He looked at where the casino was currently. "And **_O_** as in Oh boy, here it comes…" As the explosion started going off, he chuckled. "That spells 'BINGO'!" Then he shook his head as he turned back towards Knothole. "No, not bingo… Blammo!" Sonic laughed as he ran back, despite his bruises and burns from this adventure.

Meanwhile, high in the sky…

"I hate that hedgehog! One of these days he'll be a pork chop dinner!" as though that was possible… "Mmm… with biscuits n' gravy… and some black eyed peas… rice pudding… cannolis…" Yeah, the doc got a few too many bruises… let's check in back at Knothole…

 _Back in Knothole…_

"Great job, Sonic!" Sally praised as the hero returned. "Now we just have one more thing…"

"Oh, what now? Not another map to fold?" Sonic groaned.

Antoine scowled as they came upon him and the others in the main room. "No…" Sonic looked and noticed him struggling with something. "But I'm having a devil of a time with this **_child-proof cap!_** " It was a bottle of medicine!

"I'll lay you three to one, Sonic gets the cap off in five seconds or less!" Rotor chuckles.

"Sorry, I'm too young to gamble!" Tails points out.

"And all of you are too young to be messing with my medicine bottles, Antoine." Came the voice of the weary Collin Hedgehog. The hooded figure held a hand out for the bottle. "Why did you need this?"

All the children looked at him with slight concern. "You passed out." Sally explained.

"HE WHAT!" Sonic was concerned.

Collin's blue eyes rolled at this. "I see, so you thought to get my medicine for me. How thoughtful. Next time though, you could just leave the pill bottle and a glass of water near me. I'm quite capable of handling myself, children. And Sonic, don't worry so much…"

"But…" Sonic looked more upset with himself. There he had been, off having fun, and his own cousin had passed out from his illnesses. He felt guilty.

Collin sighed. "Come back with me to the medical room, Sonic. You look pretty banged up this time. What he do, throw some live wires at you?" Collin was a master at getting people to change topics from him and his own issues to someone else, especially if that someone else was his younger cousin, Sonic Hedgehog.

"Well… not exactly…" Sonic chuckled nervously as his friends' attention was drawn back to him instead of their elder comrade. "Let's just say, the odds were not in my favor for a few seconds there, hehe…"


	4. Chapter 4

Triple Trouble Part 1

"Sonic the hedgehog, you'll never survive my latest insidious plot!" Robotnik growled as he threw darts at a dart board with the hedgehog in question's face on it.

"Oh, goody, Dr. Robotnik! I hope you'll let me help destroy your nemesis!" Crabmeat, a crab like robotic flunky asked with a grin.

Robotnik looked at the foolish robot. "YOU, Crabmeat? You've done nothing but fail me! Both in trying to defeat Sonic, and in the other task I had set for you!" He growled.

"B…but your blubberness!" Crabmeat cried out as he tried to figure out how to prove his worth.

Robotnik then thought of something as he looked at the nearby fake plant in the room. "Actually… there is an important role you can play!"

"HOORAY!"

The happiness was soon short lived, as was Crabmeat, as the robot was blown to pieces by another robot, this one a monkey with a light bulb on his head. "You may be the first victim of my new robot-badnik…" the monkey slid down from the tree to look over his handy work, "…Coconuts!"

"Ook! Eek! Hehe, Bombs away!"

"Good shot, my little motorized monkey! You're quite deadly with those exploding coconuts."

The monkey smiled deviously. "You know it, Dok!"

"Off you go! And don't come back until you've slaughtered Sonic the Hedgehog!" Robotnik ordered to the monkey-bot.

"Piece o'cake!" The monkey laughed as he bounded off. "Coconut custard cake, that is!"

 ** _Later that day…_**

Sonic the hedgehog and his two tailed compatriot, Tails the fox, were running through some of the lighter forested areas on the nice sunny day. "C'mon, Tails! Pick up the pace!" Sonic smiled as he kept his speed only slightly faster than Tails', a rare thing he only did for his adoptive brother and a few of the others on occasion. "I'm widening the gap between us!" Truth be told, Tails was getting faster, for a four year old, not to mention, the boy was almost as fast as Sonic when spinning his tails to allow him to fly.

Suddenly an explosion happened in between them, causing an actual gap in the ground. "Wow!" Tails' eyes widened. "You weren't kidding about a gap! How'd you do that, Sonic?"

Sonic looked at the hole with slight fear, concerned that it had come that close to hitting the younger boy. "I didn't…"

"He's right… **_I_** did!" came a voice from the trees as another coconut bomb came to them.

"Look out, Tails!" Sonic jumped, pushing the young fox out of the way as the bomb fell. "Incoming!"

"A bomb!" Tails gasped as he figured out what was going on. "What kind of monkey business is this?" He asked, not realizing how close he already was to the truth.

"That kind of monkey business…" Sonic pointed as he spotted their attacker. "Look!" Sure enough, Coconuts was up in a tree. "A mechanical monkey threw an exploding coconut at us!"

The monkey grinned deviously. "Don't speak in the past tense, Blue!" he tossed another coconut bomb at them. "I'm still throwing!"

"JUMP!" Sonic called out as he and Tails dodged another bomb.

"Sonic, Tails!" came the voice of Collin Hedgehog as he came from the forest to find the two boys dodging bombs from the mechanical monkey. He had grown concerned when he had heard the bombs go off.

"Collin, stay back!" Sonic warned his cousin.

Tails was starting to lose his temper. "Why that sassy little simian! C'mon, Sonic! Let's chase him!" Collin made his way over to the two as Sonic held the youngest back.

"No! That's just what he wants! We're not playing his game!" Sonic looked at the two with a bit of concern.

Collin had an idea though. His cloak didn't hinder his movements like most would think, so his idea would work hopefully. "I have an idea." His blue eyes alight with mischief. "We're gonna play a different game…" Sonic and Tails looked at him while Coconuts made more bombs. "One I remember from my childhood…" Collin was truthfully only 14, but many would often forget that and just think of him like an adult. He also often thought that he was an adult. His perfect memory however would always say otherwise, not that he'd ever admit to having that. "Ever hear of 'Monkey in the middle', boys?" He asked as he dragged them from Coconuts' sight.

 ** _Soon…_**

"Where'd Sonic go? He must be so scared of me, he's shaking in his boots!" Coconuts chuckled as he looked around the area lazily. Suddenly his tree was being shaken, causing him to have a hard time holding on. "WHOA! He's shaking all right… shaking this tree!" Coconuts found himself falling fast. "Look out **_BELOW!_** "

Sonic and Collin smirked while Tails just laughed. "Nice of you to **_drop_** in!" Sonic chuckled.

"So…" Coconuts groaned as he got up. "You got me surrounded, eh?" He looked at all three players, curious as to who was in the cloak. "Well, I don't give up so easily… **_CATCH, PUNK!_** " Coconuts shouted as he suddenly tossed a coconut bomb over to Tails

"Do it, Tails… NOW!" Sonic cried out.

"Yes sir…" Tails' tails started to spin fast, causing him to hover as it caught the coconut in a mini-tornado and sent it back over to Sonic, just over Coconuts' head. "One 'Sonic Swirl' coming up!"

"Hey! Wot the?" Coconuts was confused at this.

"The wind blew the coconut over to me!" Sonic smirked as he started to get ready for his turn. He started to spin. "Your turn, Collin!"

The blue twister had the bomb fly over to Collin who did a jump flip, his robe catching the coconut and tossing it back towards Tails. "Back at you, Tails!" The three kept tossing it back and forth between them, causing destress and confusion to Coconuts.

"Hehe-hey! Stop playing volleyball with my coconut!"

Collin nodded towards his cousin who stopped the bomb's path by "passing" it to Coconuts. "Okay… you can have it!"

"Uh oh…" Coconuts groaned as he saw it coming. He was quickly blown apart.

"Ah, gee, what a mess." Sonic shook his head while Tails laughed.

"I'll clean it up, you kids go have fun." Collin smiled as he started to gather the still conscious monkey-bot's parts.

"Thanks, Cuz. Let's race, ace!" With that, Sonic and Tails were off again.

Collin looked at their dust with amusement before getting back to work.

 ** _A while later, back at Robotnik's headquarters…_**

"This package arrived for you, oh Jellybelly!" It seemed as though Robotnik either couldn't tell all of his bots were insulting his weight, or he was proud of the different ways they brought it up, as though it meant a status of some sort. The swatbot in question came in with a large blue question with "To Dr. Julian Robotnik; The Fattest of them all" written on the side in a very neat cursive.

Robotnik, who's not so secret wish was to get a gift for once, looked at it with excitement. "A present? For **_ME?_** " He started to unwrap it. "Oh boy! I hope whoever sent this knows my size: XXXXXXXXXL!" as though anyone would care to send him clothes or anything he'd be interested in for that matter… though he did get a small basket of healthy fruits and vegetables on his birthday and at Christmas, and he hadn't yet figured out who would dare send him that which he hated so much; healthy food. Instead of clothes or goodies, what the evil doctor found in the box was his robotic monkey, Coconuts. " ** _GADZOOKS! COCONUTS!_** " He started to growl as he figured out what had happened. "Or what's left of him." He mumbled. He then yelled at the monkey head. "YOU FAILED ME!"

The monkey bot pleaded. "Put me back together, Master… I'll get that hedgehog!"

Two more robots emerged from the shadows. "Forget it! That's our job now!" one said.

The shorter just agreed. "Yeah!"

Part 2

Robotnik was displeased by his latest bot's failure. "Sonic the hedgehog must be crushed!" He growled as he slammed his fist upon the table, crushing a Sonic Action figure in the process.

One of the newer bots that he had created, a large chicken bot… no, seriously, he looks like a rooster, you guys… anyway, he spoke up first. He sounds high pitched. "And we're just the badniks to do it!"

"Indeed you are my pets!" Robotnik mused as he looked at his latest creations. " ** _Scratch_** , the robot chicken… leader of the S.S.S.S.S.S." His black eyes showing no remorse. "Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad!" (try saying that ten times fast.) Robotnik then turned towards the other robot, a tunneling bot of sorts, similar to the burrobot in design, but green, bigger… and exceptionally dumber… "with your non-identical twin, **_Grounder_** , you will succeed!"

"Indeed, your lardness!" Grounder agreed with a dark smile.

"Now go!" Robotnik snarled. "And remember, I shall be in constant communication with you!"

"Yes, oh overweight one!" Scratch called as they headed to the door. Suddenly a noise came from Grounder's chest. "HEY! The phone in your chest plate is ringing!"

Grounder looked at it nervously. "You answer it, Scratch!"

Scratch rolled his eyes as he opened his twin's chest plate. "Yo! Don't bother us!" He yelled into the phone. "We're on a special mission for the evil Dr. Robotnik!" He held the wire phone in both hands.

"IDIOT!" came the voice at the other end. "This is the evil Dr. Robotnik! I just wanted to reemphasize the price you'll pay if you fail me!"

Scratch gagged as the doctor held his through and choked him. "Price! Awwk! Don't we get an employee discount?"

Later outside of the toxic city, Scratch and Grounder were on the trail to the Great Forest…

"C'mon, Grounder! We'll show ol' Blubber Butt that I'm the best robot he ever built!" Robotnik's reputation was so bad that even his own bots didn't respect him. They were loyal, but they held no real respect for him. If they did, they still didn't realize they were truly insulting him.

" ** _Ahem_**! You mean 'We'… We! **_WE_**!" Grounder tried to get his brother to recognize him as an equally superior being.

Scratch played it off that his twin was in needed to change his oil. "You should've thought of that before we left headquarters!" He pulled out a book from seemingly no where that was entitled, **_How to Track a Hedgehog_**. "Now then, we want to look for a deep trench left by a zooming Sonic…"

"Like- ** _OOF!_** \- this?" Grounder asked weakly as he found himself at the bottom of a trench.

"Good work, Grounder!" Scratch said, proud of his younger twin.

Grounder sighed. "Only a few hours old and already my life's in a rut!" He managed to turn himself over and his drill hands turned into a set of copters. "However, my conical arms can turn into any kind of machine!"

Scratch had already started to march off, following the trench. "Let's follow his trail…" He looked back at Grounder as he landed on solid ground. "Come on, I said!" He started running. "Let's go! Follow me! Hurry up!"

Grounder rolled his eyes as best as he could. "You must be a chicken…" He glared at his twin. "Because you sure know how to **_henpeck!_** "

Not too far past the forest edge, Sonic and Tails were hiding. "Wow! Two more mechanical beasties!" Sonic pointed out.

"Good thing you left that False trail, Sonic!"

"Yeah… for anybody dopey enough to buy that ' ** _How to Track a Hedgehog'_** book!" Sonic took a deep breath. "You'd better head back to Knothole, Tails!"

"But why, Sonic?" Tails hated leaving his best friend and hero to himself.

"You gotta go let Princess Sally and the other Freedom Fighters know about them!"

Tails took that as an important assignment. "Aye, aye!" He saluted before flying off.

Back with Scratch and Grounder, the two had followed the trench to a cliff's edge. "Go slow, Bro!" Scratch warned Grounder.

Even Grounder could see the cliff though. "Yeah… the trench stops up ahead." The two slowed to a stop.

"Ha!" Scratch laughed as they reached the edge. "Does he think we're stupid enough to follow it over a sheer cliff?" Sonic, who was hiding nearby, was only amused that they weren't.

"Hmf!" Grounder agreed.

"Did you say, **_Shear the cliff_**?" Sonic asked as he came out of hiding in a Sonic Spin. "Glad to… with a Sonic Spin!"

"It's himself!" Scratch cried out as the cliff part under him and his brother fell.

Grounder looked smarter for once as his hands turned into mini parachutes, which allowed him to float down. "Luckily, I'll be able to save myself by extending parachutes out of my arms!"

"Well, what am I?" Scratch asked, quite calm for someone falling off of a cliff. "Chopped liver?" Before Grounder could reply, the elder twin bot crashed to the ground. "Don't… say… it…ungh….."

"I have to… you look like chopped chicken liver!" Grounder pointed out as he floated to the ground.

"Go back to Flabotnik and tell him you lost big time!" The two bots looked up to see the blue hedgehog they were supposed to capture was standing at the top of the cliff still, and mocking them.

"This game isn't over!" Grounder scowled. One of his hands turned into a cable, which was promptly shot at the blue hero. "Sonic the Hedgehog…" The rope reached up the cliff and grabbed the boy by the neck, nearly choking him. " ** _Come on down!"_**

"YOW! He shot a cable out of - ** _URK!_** " Sonic choked as the cable was pulled.

Scratch managed a smirk. "Let's sing our favorite song… ' _The **YANKS**_ _are coming!'"_

Sonic landed with a hard thud on the ground in front of the two bots. Collin, who had been nearby when he noticed the bots tracking Sonic, gasped. The poor hedgehog had been dragged at least twenty feet off of a cliff after all. He had to figure out how to help his cousin.

"HAW! My plan worked perfectly! I will now subdue Sonic! Robotnik will honor me!"

"YOU? **_YOU?_** " Grounder growled at his twin's audacity. Collin blinked. Maybe Sonic would be fine after all.

"Yes-me, you sawed off pencil sharpener!" Scratch countered. "I'm gonna get the glory for Sonic's demise!"

"Izzat so?" Ground asked as he faced the taller robot. "And how do you plan to do that, henhouse breath?"

"I thought I'd rattle his brain by pecking him like this!" Scratch started to peck at his twin's head with his beak as Collin made his way over to Sonic and helped the boy get up and out of the rope.

Once Scratch was done pecking at Grounder, the smaller bot looked up and turned his hands into gas sprayers. "By contrast, I planned to render him helpless with a faceful of tear gas… LIKE THIS!"

The two cousins watched as the twin robots kept fighting eachother. Collin made sure that Sonic wasn't hurt to badly while Sonic just rolled his eyes and wondered why he had these two trying to destroy him. "This is too easy!"

"I'll agree, but you should still be more careful. If they hadn't started bickering, they might have had you there!" Collin pointed out with a sad look in his eyes.

"Relax, Cuz. I've got this. Here, hold on." He started to run circles around the bots. "Heads up, Rock'em Sock'em Robots!"

"Uh Oh!" The two bots stopped fighting as they realized Sonic was awake and racing around them. "The hedgehog's running circles around us!" Scratch stated… (where's the captain obvious hats?)

"What's he up to?" Grounder asked stupidly.

Thankfully, the two weren't so stupid as to not notice what the end result was. "YIPE!" We're surrounded by a deep fissure!" Scratch started to shake as his processors figured out what was going to happen.

"A trench! That's F'Sure!"

The ground started to rumble. "And you know what that means…" Scratch said, looking at his brother.

"I do?" Grounder hadn't quite caught up yet.

Suddenly the ground under them fell, causing both hedgehog cousins to laugh. "CAVE-IN!" Scratch cried as he was buried up to his neck in sand. You could barely see Grounder's face. "We're trapped!"

A buzzing sound was resonating from the chest of Grounder at this unfortunate time too! "And wouldn't you know it…" He managed to get his chest plate out enough to show the door, but he couldn't quite open it himself. "The phone's ringing!"

"I'll get it." Sonic grinned deviously. Collin just couldn't wipe the smile off his face as his cousin picked up the phone. He put on a monotone voice and started to speak. "I'm sorry… the badniks you are trying to reach have been disconnected! Have a nice day!"

"WHAT!" Robotnik, who was on the other end of the phone, was furious. "Is this who I think it is?"

"Maybe?" Sonic grinned while Collin laughed. This was almost as good as pranking the guy in person.

 ** _"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG! AAAAARGH!_** " with that, Robotnik crushed the phone in his hand.

"You're quite the **_smooth operator_** , Sonic." Collin chuckled as they started back for Knothole.

"Not to mention, I'm Robotnik's **_worst hang up_**!" The two laughed all the way back home.hed all the way back home./p


	5. Chapter 5

Vertigo A' Go Go!

"Bringing in the Rings.. bringing in the rings… we shall come rejoicing bringing in the rings!" Sonic sang as he ran around collecting magic golden rings that were brimming with power. "Magic rings that is… to help us defeat Robotnik!"

"Hey, Sonic! Over here!" Collin Hedgehog called. The cloaked being who's eyes were really the only thing you saw of him other than his hands, started to waive his blue cousin over. "Check this out!" He was standing next to cluster of rings that were all connected together somehow.

"Now there's an odd cluster of rings!"

"I know right, isn't it cool!" It was almost easy to forget that Collin was not an adult, until he was allowed to adventure with his cousin. He didn't get the chance often due to his condition, but when he could, he was a happy young teen.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like that on Mobius…" Sonic grimaced as he walked towards the cluster where his cousin was.

The two stood in front of the rings, about to grab it when "Ta-WANG!" went a spring board under them.

"YIPE!" Collin cried out as he flew.

"Never saw a hidden catapult like that either!" Sonic shouted as they kept going up. The two ended up going through a strange tube. "We're being shot up into a hole in the sky? **_Tubular!_** " Collin was just holding himself into a ball with his eyes closed tightly, the intensity of the colors was messing with him.

The two cousins suddenly crashed into what felt like a wall with a loud "THUD!" Collin, having been curled up in his fright, had somehow landed on his feet, while his cousin had landed on his back.

"OOF!" Sonic let out. "That was no gentle spinal tap!"

"You okay, Sonic?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Collin… Whoo-ha! Which way is up?" He was still dizzy as his cousin helped him stand, though he looked around with high concern.

"Interesting …"

"Question…" came two voices that had finished each other's sentences.

Collin started to look worried. Sonic panicked as he saw the two humans, or as Mobians know them, overlanders, standing in two different ways. One was upside down compared to the two cousins, and the other was standing on the wall it seemed. "Huh? Wha… hey! Who are you two?"

The one who was standing above them tipped his strange top hat first. "The name's Verti Cal… Cal me **_Cal_**!" He was slightly skinnier than his friend, and had a thin curly of hair under his hat.

"And I'm Horizont Al…" The other introduced himself while also tipping his flatter hat. They both wore shirts that had arrows on them, but they seemed to point in different directions. "Call me **_Al!_** "

Collin's eyes widened as his mind raced, his grip suddenly tightening on his cousin. "Sonic…"

"Wait a second! You're Horizont ** _AL_** and Verti ** _Cal_**? Then that means we're…"

 ** _"FALLING!"_** the two cousins shouted as they fell back through a hole.

"In…"

"…deed!" the two strange friends agreed.

The colors on the way back down were even more intense this time. Collin kept his eyes open this time, trying to figure how to land. Sonic was still struggling. "Let this be a lesson, Collin. Don't drop out!"

"We didn't drop out, Sonic!" Collin gulped. "We dropped **_IN!_** "

"He's quite right." Came the voice of one of the strange overlander like people.

"Help us, Al!"

"That's Cal!" Collin panicked as he started to adjust himself.

"I'm Al!" said the other who was now under the two but facing as though he was standing on the ground. "Got it, Pal?"

Sonic's mind finally caught up as Collin tried to pull him up. "Uh oh… I think I'm about to **_Get it!_** "

Sonic scraped across what served as ground in the strange zone, while Collin had once more somehow landed correctly. "How are you doing that?"

"I figured that if I'm aligned with Al, then I'm more likely to be as straight as Cal, but if I'm like Cal, then I'll fall flat on Al…" The hooded figure mumbled as he adjusted his hood. It almost came off, and he almost didn't care as he found himself dealing with this strange zone.

"Okay, whatever… YOU two! I know you're working for Robotnik!" Sonic accused. Collin face palmed. "Fess up or I'll level this place with a Sonic Spin!"

"Like that'll do any good…" Collin mumbled as he curled up, noticing that he was floating again.

"Ro-who-nik?" Cal asked with confusion.

"Never heard of him!" Al explained.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Sonic tried to do his Sonic Spin. Collin sighed as he watched his younger cousin spin out of control, unable to do as he wished. Gravity was turning around on them at all times. "WHOA! My equilibrium!"

"Tsk-tsk." Cal was not impressed.

"Bye-bye!" said Al as he held his hat.

A hole tried to take Sonic away again. Collin reached for the other, not wishing to lose him or be left behind. "Oh no you don't!"

Sonic pulled himself out with Collin's help. "Not this time!" The two then looked back over to the strange pair. "You guys really don't know who Robotnik is, do you?"

"Ix…"

"…nay." The duo responded, finishing each other's words and sentences once more.

"This must be an unknown zone, at least to us, that we reached when you collected all of those magic rings, Sonic." Collin deduced as he kept floating, trying to keep himself calm. Most of their color drained from the group. No, seriously, only a pale skin color was still on the group at that point.

"That makes sense." Sonic grumbled as he crossed his arms. Suddenly all the colors had returned, and the two were going through another light stream of colors.

"Uh oh! Magic Rings! Very dangerous to play with!" Al pointed out.

"We weren't playing with them!" Collin shouted, ignoring everything and just curling up into a cloaked ball at this point.

"That puts everything into perspective." Cal exclaimed as the Hedgehog Cousins fell through the zone's trippy color passages.

Sonic tried to ask the two strange beings who seemed to control gravity if they would be so kind as to join the Freedom Fighters. They had no interest in doing so though, but were kind enough to drop the two cousins off in their home zone. Unfortunately, Sonic landed on top of Collin as a bunch of rings fell around them.

"Ah, Sonic, Collin! There you are!" Antoine was waiting for them. The two untangled themselves as he talked. "I've been looking all over ze forest for you! So… what's **_UP?_** "

The two cousins twitched. Collin managed to reign in his irritation, but Sonic could not. Antoine beat a record for longest lasting run **_away_** from Sonic though… about 10 seconds.

"What'd I say? What'd I say?" Poor Antoine was confused as he ran from his angered friend.

Collin started to pick up the rings that had fallen to the ground. He sighed as he noticed some of his hair was sticking out. "Figures." He tucked the brown mess of bangs he had back into his cloak's hood. "Gonna need a hair cut soon… and probably to patch up Antoine after this…" Collin chuckled as he kept on with his task, wondering what kind of zone that must have been.


	6. Chapter 6

The Bomb Bugs Me! Part 1

"Sonic the Hedgehog is coming this way at incredible speed, Princess Sally!" Boomer exclaimed as the two watched the blue hedgehog on their Great Forest Monitor.

"How fast is he going, Boomer?" The princess asked, as they had never truly tested the hedgehog's speed before.

"Faster than your TV camera can transmit pictures of me." Sonic smirked as he stood behind Boomer, startling the poor walrus.

"Huh? Wha-how?"

Sally just chuckled, as the screen had Sonic finally reaching the entrance. Sonic patted him on the back. "Sorry if I scared you, Big Guy."

"Who… me?" Boomer chuckled nervously.

Sally spoke in his defense. "Sonic, we're Freedom Fighters! We don't scare easily!"

"Good! Then you'll be able to handle this news: Robotnik's got 'The Bomb'!"

This got a shriek out of the princess, which caused Collin Hedgehog to enter the room. "What's going on here?

"I was just over in Robotropolis, trashing a few swatbots, when I overheard Blubberbuns!"

 ** _"At last!" Robotnik snickered. "You're sure it's all arranged, Crabmeat?"_**

 ** _"Indeed oh keeper of the spare tire! "The Bomb" is almost ready!"_**

 ** _"EXCELLENT! Once I detonate it, every last one of them will die!"_**

"It's our worst nightmare, come true, Sally!" Sonic exclaimed as he ended his explanation.

"I'll say! A deadly weapon… in his chubby hands…" Sally started to get worried. "If he detonated it in the Great Forest, every living thing, plant and animal, would perish!"

Collin intervened with his own concern. "It's more than that! If he's got one, he can get more!"

Sonic agreed with his cousin. "He won't be happy until our Mobius is a lifeless planet!"

Boomer gulped, his imagination already seeing gravestones. "That's why they call it a 'Cold War'…" He started to sweat. "Because we'll all be… *Gulp* on ice!"

"We can't let that happen! All of us must demonstrate our resolve for a bomb-free world!" Sally stated as Boomer started to cry out while singing "Sweet Chariot."

Sonic's eyes lit up. "Did you say, 'Demonstrate'? That gives me an idea!"

Collin looked at his cousin with grim amusement. "That's a first."

"Come on, Collin, I'll need your help!"

 ** _A short time later at Robotnik's HQ…_**

"Look my lumpy liege… protestors!" A swat bot pointed out a window.

"Impossible! I've outlawed all religious freedom!" The fat oaf growled.

The robot clarified. "Not protestants! **_Protestors_**! You're being picketed!"

"Gadzooks!" Robotnik made his way over to the window where his weight hung out over the ledge. "And look who it is… Sonic, Princess Sally, and that overweight walrus!" The three appeared to be marching alongside a nearby brick wall, just outside his office, holding signs. The hypocrite than started to tsk the walrus' weight. "Tsk, tsk! How can anyone let himself get so **_obese_**?" as though he himself wasn't fatter. Shaking his head, he turned back to the swat bot in his office. "Never mind that now! They've left themselves wide open to ambush! Assemble a squadron of swatbots!"

"At once, your rotundity!" The bot announced as he ran off to follow orders.

 ** _Soon_** …

"Follow me, 'Bots!" Robotnik shouted as he started marching. "We will crush this uprising! Ready…" He started getting faster. "Set…" He started running. "GO! And remember… no prisoners! And NO SURVIVORS! No… OOF!" The fat man had crashed into a brick wall, with his robots following his lead. Robotnik found himself dizzy as his robots were all dented. "What the…? We hit the wall! The Freedom Fighters weren't there!"

One of the robots that was still partially functioning seemed to have had his sassy switch hit. "Observe! They now appear on your ample belly!"

"They WHAT? My which? When… why… Wooooo-ha!" Robotnik passed out.

"Robotnik's out like a light!" The robot exclaimed.

Meanwhile, on a nearby roof with a projector, Collin was snickering. "This is our best prank against him yet!" The cloaked creature always loved being allowed to participate in pranks against Robotnik, more so than any of the others, save for Sonic and Tails.

"It worked!" Sally exclaimed. "Projecting that movie of us on the wall fooled the fat man!"

"Good, now let's get 'The Bomb' before he recovers!" Sonic smirked as the three walked off.

Part 2

"Try it now," Collin smirked as he backed away from what appeared to be Robotnik.

The fat man nodded. He then glared and pointed at Sally and Sonic. "Sonic the Hedgehog! You and princess Sally must be eliminated!"

The trio started to clap. "Excellent! Well done!" Sonic smirked.

Sally laughed. "An outstanding performance!"

"Probably the only time I wasn't scared of the fat man." Collin grinned from under his cloak.

"Thanks you guys!" Boomer smiled as he pulled off the mask that Collin had made for him. "I can do other voices besides Robotnik!" Collin chuckled. "Want to hear my James Cagney?"

"Not now, Boomer, put the mask back on!" Sally urged him.

Sonic had a devious smirk on his face as he nodded to his cousin to open the door. "Yeah, let's get this show on the road!"

Collin peeked around the door. "There's his right han…er… right **_claw_** man, Crabmeat down the hall!"

"Call him, Boomer!" Sonic grinned. His grin quickly was replaced with confusion, as was his cousin as the walrus did his Cagney impression.

"OOOooo… come hee-yah, Crabmeat, you doity rat! Ooooo…."

"Not as Cagney, as Robotnik!" Sally hissed.

"Sheesh!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

Boomer blushed in embarrassment as Collin scowled. "We won't be any good captured, you know."

"Gotcha!" Boomer cleared his voice as he placed the mask back on. "CRABMEAT!" Boomer's Robotnik impersonation was perfect. "Front and center, you bottom feeding flunky!"

"You bellowed, your blubberness?" Crabmeat asked as he bounced over to whom he thought was his leader.

"Robotnik" picked up Crabmeat and glared at him. "YES! I want you to bring 'The Bomb' to my office at once!"

Unfortunately, Robotnik had added smell sensors to his robots. "My, what a fishy breath you have, Master!"

"The better to order you around with!" The fat one snarled. "Now, please do as I say!"

Collin face palmed. Crabmeat bounced off as he tried to think on what just happened. "Aye, aye!" He glanced back at the fat man behind him before continuing off. 'He said **_please!_** Something's strange around here!'

Collin and the others entered the room. Collin was noticeably scowling, even under his cloak. "Rotor Walrus, you've slipped up, young man." He grumbled while tapping his foot.

"How so, Uncle Collin?" Rotor asked, slightly confused.

"You were too polite this time. The last time Dr. Robotnik said please, he was sucking up to the king to later betray him." Collin pointed out.

"Crabmeat's not that smart, it'll be fine!" Rotor grimaced.

Collin merely shook his head. "I'll just point out that I hope I'm wrong for once on this."

 ** _Moments later…_**

"I've got 'The Bomb' oh, Oval One…er… could you waddle out here for a second?" Crabmeat asked, slightly shaking. Collin, Sonic, and Sally all hid behind Boomer in his costume.

"Very well!" The Hedgehog cousins didn't like it. "Stay put guys, I'll be right back!"

"Be careful, Rotor." Collin cautioned, being the oldest of the group.

"Yeah, I'm starting to smell a robot rat…" Sonic agreed.

Almost as soon Boomer stepped outside, a fight could be heard. "HEY!" Came Boomer's voice.

"I knew it! lemme at them!" Sonic grumbled as he started towards the door to get to his friend's aid.

"Hold on a second, Sonic!" Collin grabbed hold of one hand.

Sally grabbed the other. "Wait! Don't blow our cover! Boomer can handle himself!"

Boomer quickly came back through the doorway, but not in his usual outfit, or his Robotnik outfit. Collin was suspicious while the other two were relieved. "Okay… I got 'the bomb'! Let's take it back to Knothole, quick!"

Collin dashed to where Rotor couldn't see him, and headed towards the door to be lookout. Sally and Sonic both looked at the box with curiosity, as it was very small. "It's much smaller than I thought!"

"Yeah… we'll analyze it at Knothole! C'mon, you lead the way!" Rotor started to sweat.

"Alright already… what's the rush?" Sonic asked somewhat confused. After all, Crabmeat was most likely in no condition to sound the alarm.

Collin quickly pulled someone in and slammed the door after them. The person then responded with their own voice on why "Rotor" wanted to get moving. "He wants to get to Knothole village so he can destroy it!" The two rodent Mobians gasped as they turned towards the newcomer. It was Robotnik! "Don't be fooled by that fake! He's Robotnik in disguise!" He said in Rotor's voice.

"HA! That's a laugh and a half coming from Robotnik himself!" Rotor countered.

"Ha-HA! You'll laugh out of the other side of your mask now, Chubbins!"

Sonic looked sorta relieved to see his tusky friend. "Boomer!"

"Ho-ho! That's what you think, Bucktusks!" Robotnik countered as he took off his Boomer Mask.

"Robotnik!" Sally growled as Collin pulled her back, along with Sonic, while the two costumed creatures went into the most ridiculous contest of how many masks were people holding on their head.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Sonic pointed out as both Hedgehog cousins started to tap their feet.

"Maybe this is why I don't leave Knothole very often." Collin grumbled before looking over to his younger cousin. "Sonic, would you be so kind as to clear this up?"

Sonic nodded as he started to spin around the two quite quickly, causing all the fake heads to fall off. "That's all I can stands…" He accidently also included his cousin in the mix, so the poor boy got nearly blown into the air, "I can't stands no more! So heads up, boys!" Then he noticed his cousin had caught wind, and was flying a bit, and stopped just under him to catch the older boy who was only an inch or so taller. "Or rather, heads off!"

"Oof!" Collin gasped as he landed safely in his cousin's hands. "Thanks."

"No prob… you should still eat more." Sonic scowled as he placed his cousin down.

Collin rolled his eyes. "Sorry not all of us scarf down chili dogs like no tomorrow." In the confusion, the masks had all come off, leaving a very dizzy Boomer and Robotnik sitting against a wall, and "The Bomb" sitting on the floor in front of them. "I'll hold this, you two help Boomer."

Sally smiled. "Good work, Sonic! Now we can see who's who!"

"Yeah, and now we can escape with 'The Bomb'!" As though Collin hadn't already said that.

"C'mon, Boomer!" Sally helped the walrus to his feet while Robotnik tried, and failed, to stand up and stop them.

"Come back h-OOop…"

 ** _Later, back in the secret village of Knothole…_**

Sonic and Collin were looking over the box that was labeled "The Bomb" while they waited for the others. "Ten Mobo-bucks says it's over exaggerated!" Collin chuckled as he thought about how light the box was to be carrying something so dangerous.

"Ha, I'll see that and say that it's nuclear!" Sonic countered.

"You're on!"

Sally and Boomer then entered the room. "You're no longer dizzy, Boomer?" Sally asked with concern for their larger friend.

"Heh, no more than usual, Princess." Boomer assured her.

"Good! Let's dismantle 'The Bomb!'" Sonic said eagerly.

Collin rolled his eyes as he started to look at the box and open it.

"Okay, but it'll be dangerous!" Boomer cautioned.

"Don't be nervous just because the fate of the world rests on your shoulders!" Sally pointed out.

"Gee, thanks for not making it worse." Sonic pointed out as his cousin carefully opened the box.

Both Sonic and Boomer closed their eyes tight as Collin opened it.

"It's open!" Boomer stated the obvious.

"What kind of bomb is it, Collin?" Sonic asked, as his eyes were also closed.

"Atomic, hydrogen, neutron?" Sally inquired.

Collin just chuckled. "Nothing that didn't earn my ten bucks from Sonic, hehe. Here, we can make use of it too." Collin tossed the contents over to Princess Sally. "Keep it away from the younger children." He started walking back to his lab, happy to having been included on the adventure for the day.

Sally took a look at it and scowled. "It says 'Remove all household pets before discharging in infested area!'"

"Uh-"

"-Oh!" The two remaining boys responded.

 ** _Meanwhile, back in Robotropolis…_**

"The pantry is still full of flying ants, oh Round One! Without the ' ** _Bug Bomb'_** , I don't know what we'll do!" Crabmeat exclaimed as he tried to swat at the ants.

Robotnik had only four words for that… " ** _I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!_** "


	7. Chapter 7

**Tails Fairy Tales**

It was a sunny day just outside the underground village that was Knothole, and Sonic the Hedgehog was taking a nap under a tree. Or at least he was until his two-tailed friend, Tails the fox, came along. "Sonic, wake up!"

"Zooooo hmmm? Huh…? Hum?" Sonic awoke and noticed his friend.

"Collin just read me the coolest story, ' ** _The Tortoise and the Hare!'_** " Tails explained his excitement as he showed the old book of fables in his hand.

"Phooey! That old fossil? Why does he still have that old thing?" Sonic yawned as he glanced at the ancient book. He could remember his older cousin reading him those very stories when he was a tiny hedgehog, but now? He just saw them as silly, but this one was always silly. Though that thought was mainly due to Sonic's own speed.

"Oh c'mon… it's great!" Tails explains the story excitedly. "The overconfident rabbit takes a nap while a determined turtle plods along slow and steady!"

"Balderdash! Poppycock!" Sonic mumbled, having actually lived a similar instance in his youth. "Take it from me, kid… there's no way some creepalong cooter could outrace anyone so fast!"

"Really?" Tails asked as he noticed something coming their way. "What if he was riding a rocket-powered skateboard?"

Sonic had already closed his eyes and yawned again as a tortoise did just as Tails had pointed out. "Maybe…"

Double Speak

Collin couldn't honestly describe what he was witnessing other than ridiculous. His younger cousin, Sonic Hedgehog was running from one end of Knothole to another just to yell at himself on the telephone. This went on for several minutes, leaving quite the cloud of dust in the tunnels. Collin shrugged and left his cousin to continue insulting himself on the phone just to do something. Collin made his way over to his own room where he had a small mirror on a wall. "There are easier ways to talk to yourself, aren't there, ya ugly old fool?" He grimaced as he looked at himself through the mirror.

"You could say that again, ya sorry excuse for a multi-cellular organism…"

Paper Trail!

Princess Sally Acorn was pissed off. She sat on her throne in the center of Knothole, yelling at what was left of her kingdom. "Somebody is in **_very_** deep yogurt!" Collin rolled his eyes at the young ground squirrel's version of cursing. "There shall be no peace around here until the perpetrators have been punished!" She screeched as she slammed her tiny fists onto her throne. A few members of the audience were nervous, as it was rare for the young princess to get so angry. "For I am Princess Sally Acorn, Ruler of Knothole, and my word is **_LAW!_** " Now the audience was really surprised. She rarely played the "I'm the princess" card. She grabbed her scepter and a crown, placing it upon her head as she stamped the staff with a giant acorn on it's top to the ground. She stomped off of her platform and grabbed Antoine by the scruff of his father's uniform. "I shall be avenged! Come along, Antoine…" She started to drag him off, deeming him the most trustworthy in this case. Collin couldn't help but cover his chuckle. "The investigation begins!"

"Yes, your majesty!" Antoine hastily agreed as his princess dragged him away to get started on figuring out who had pranked her so woefully.

Collin made his way over to the other Freedom Fighters, as the crowd dispersed. Sonic, Rotor, and Tails were all looking quite scared. "Wow! I never saw her so angry!" Tails quaked with fear.

Collin took a look at the newspaper in Sonic's hands. "Nice shot. Hehe, you boys are soooooo in trouble."

"Yeah…" Sonic grimaced as he also started to sweat. "I thought she could take a joke!" The front page on the newspaper was "Princess Dye!: Sally's Blonde to Brunette Debacle!" with pictures of Sally in both her natural black hair, and in blonde hair.

Rotor was already leaving to clean up. "I'm washing off this printer's ink right now!" He gulped as he headed towards the nearest washroom.

Collin just started humming on his way back to his room. He knew he'd have to patch up the boys after Sally was done teaching them a lesson. He smirked under his hood. Things were never truly dull in Knothole.


	8. Chapter 8

Rabbot Deployment Part 1

"Sonic the Hedgehog, comin' through!" Sonic shouted as skidded across the floor of Freedom Fighter HQ.

"Tsk… those skid marks are so hard to get off the floor!" Sally scolded as she looked at the blue hedgehog. Rotor and Collin just groaned as they looked at it.

Collin knew it would take him the better part of an hour to get those out, but at the same time, he didn't mind. So long as his cousin and their friends were happy with their abilities, and were safe, he was alright.

Sonic's sneakers were still smoking as he made a mock bow to his princess. "You summoned me, Princess Sally? I am your humble and obedient servant."

Collin couldn't help but choke on a laugh at that. "Excuse me? In what dimension?"

"Humble, never!" Sally agreed. "Obedient, Never, never!" She crossed her arms. "But at least you showed up! Check out Boomer's pictures!"

Boomer scowled as he noticed something. "HEY! I didn't order double prints!"

"That's the least of our problems, Rotor." Collin grimaced as he held a picture in one of his hands. His cloak covering all but his one hand, and his bright blue eyes.

Rotor wasn't paying attention to that though, as he now had Sonic's attention. " ** _Ahem!_** You'll notice I used my "Little Mermaid" camera!" He held up a camera with a mermaid on it.

Collin shook his head as Sonic started to snicker. "Ah, yes… nice "Ariel" photography!"

"What have I told you two about those bad puns?"

"There's worse things than that." Collin stated as he left for a moment to grab something. "I'll be right back. I need something."

Sally continued to scold the boys. "Get serious, you two! These photos show Robotnik making deep inroads into the southern sector of Mobius!"

Sonic's eyes widened as he looked at the pictures. "You're right!"

"What'll we do?" Boomer asked.

Collin at this point returned wearing a helmet that had hedgehog spikes in mind that covered his face, and a jumpsuit over the rest of his body, still managing to make him look like he was a green metallic, or at least shiny, hedgehog underneath all of it. He also had a set of skates on. "Why we go on down, and see what we can do to help, of course!"

Sonic nodded as he started to try talking in a southern accent, grabbing both his cousin, and the walrus. "Why, Cajun my crawdads, Boomer, you good ole boy! Collin's right! We-all's gonna head down to Dixie!" He groaned as he realized something else while dragging the two up the tunnels to the surface. "Whoo! You need to go on a diet, Big guy!" Then he glanced at his cousin. "And **_you_** should do the opposite!"

"Oh, shut up! I'm perfectly fine with my diet, thank you!" The green "Hedgehog" snapped.

"Be careful, boys!" Sally called back.

 ** _Sometime later… after getting Boomer some roller blades at the sporting goods store!_**

"Slow down, Sonic! We're getting close to the danger zone!" Rotor shouted as he and Collin were pulled along by ropes that were connected to Sonic. He was panicking, but for once, Collin seemed fine. Or maybe that was just the hedgehog like helmet covering his entire face that made him seem like he was okay.

"We're in it, Boom Box! Look over there!" Sonic pointed out with a slight fear in his young eyes.

The trio hid behind a set of bushes at the edge of a farm. Two swat bots were grabbing a young bunny girl who couldn't have been older than the boys were. "Holy Hares!" Rotor gasped. "Those two swatbots grabbed that sweet, little bunny!"

"But wait!" Sonic's eyes went wider. "There's more!" He pointed at the vehicle that the bots had come in. It was a large truck with "Bot on the Spot" on the side of it.

Collin gasped. "A portable Robot-maker!" The other boys gasped as the bots started to throw the young girl into the machine. Collin quickly started to untie himself. Boomer wasn't as fast.

"This looks like a job for…" Sonic started, forgetting that he was tied to the walrus and his cousin.

"WAIT! You're still tied up!" Boomer exclaimed as he did remember.

"Sonic the Hedge- ** _help!_** " Sonic gasped as he twanged back to the large walrus. The poor bunny girl was thrown into the machine.

Collin was already running up ahead, his own fears not on his mind other than losing another person to Robotnik's evil. He got to the truck in time for Sonic to finally reach the machine with a horizontal Sonic Spin that beheaded the two swatbots and sawed through the machine. Collin climbed in after him while Sonic was shocked at the machine.

"Yow! A Robot-maker in action!"

"Don't just stand there, Sugah! **_TURN IT OFF!_** " The bunny screamed as she managed to hold herself out by one arm, her other having been robotosized already, and her lower body was already hidden by the machine.

"SONIC, HELP!" Collin shouted as he struggled with the switch.

"OH, right, sorry!" Sonic rushed over and the two cousins managed to pull the switch down.

"Ah don't feel at all well…" the bunny swooned as her head became dizzy, part of her body having gone through a dangerous process.

Boomer was stuck on the outside, the two cousins being the only ones able to fit in the hole. "Is she okay? Was she turned into a robot?"

"It shut down halfway through!" Sonic explained while Collin looked at the machine.

"I'll salvage what I can, but unfortunately, I can't reverse this it seems." Collin scowled as he started to take things apart.

"Y-you mean…" Boomer gulped.

"She's half rabbit, half Rab-bot!" Sonic explained as he handed the unconscious girl to the walrus just outside. "But more than anything, she's hurt!"

"Let's take her back to Knothole. I can help her more there." Collin scowled as the Hedgehog cousins got out of the truck.

"But she's part machine now! Robotnik could follow us by using her!" Boomer panicked as he held the poor girl.

"No he can't, she's not registered to him. I took that part apart easily, it's reversing it, that I can't do." Collin rolled his eyes from in his helmet.

"This is no time for a mechanical mentality anyway, Boom!" Sonic snapped. "The lady needs help! Are we **_Mice or Men_?**"

"Neither!" Boomer exclaimed.

"Man…" Collin muttered under his breathe, knowing that the argument was mainly for Boomer and Sonic. He quickly tied himself back up to Sonic while the blue hedgehog started to push the walrus on skates.

"My point exactly! Let's Go!"

Boomer rolled his eyes, also knowing that Collin had been left out of the argumentative that Sonic had made. "How can you argue with logic like that?"

Part 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog, reporting in, your highness!" Sonic saluted to Sally as he entered the main area of Knothole's Freedom Fighter HQ.

Boomer came in, huffing and puffing while carrying Bunny while Collin skated alongside him, still in his green hedgehog like sports gear. "Boomer, too!"

"Collin Hedgehog, reporting for duty, my princess!" Collin skated to a stop next to his cousin.

"Glad you're back boys, but who's your friend?" Sally asked with some concern.

"Gee, we didn't get her na…" Boomer started just as the rabbot woke up and bounced in front of the trio.

"Y'all can call me ' ** _Bunnie_** '! You can call me ' ** _Buns_** '! Just don't call me **_Bugs_** or call me late when it's time to defeat Robotnik!" She said in a southern accent. Her pink top connecting to her robotic lower half and her robotic arm gleaming in the light in the caverns. Her pink and purple makeup making her look cute as her fluffy brown tail twitched. One of her ears was bent down while the other stood straight up, and her hair was a puff near the front like most Mobians.

Collin sighed in relief at the young lady's recovery speed while Sonic was amused and confused by her statement. Sally was still concerned, not wishing for another of her citizens to be taken, and this young lady was already at least halfway through that. "Really? And what can you do?"

Bunnie had already thought it through as she analyzed herself and smirked. "My robotic half makes me super strong!" She lifted up the princess in her chair, throne and all, while performing a high karate kick that nearly took out the two hedgehog cousins. "And my Karate kicks are pretty hot, too!"

"YIPE!" Sonic barely managed to push himself and his cousin out of the way of the fast kick of the green eyed bunny. "Only I could've moved fast enough to avoid that!" Sonic grumbled, making sure his cousin was fine before risking standing back up.

Bunnie was impressed. "You're fast **_and_** cute!" Collin rolled his eyes as Bunnie tapped his cousin's nose. "What's your name, Sugah?"

"His name's Sonic Hedgehog. Boomer carried you in, and I'm Collin Hedgehog, Sonic's older cousin." Collin explained as he dusted himself off.

"I think maybe you should put the princess down, miss." Sonic pointed out, slightly unimpressed by the girl's attitude towards the whole thing, though in retrospect, it was similar to his own.

Bunnie's eyes widened at that. "P-p-p-princess?" She dropped the throne and the princess in shock. "Oh mah stars, ah am **_so_** sorry!" Collin had managed to catch the princess with a quick flip while the others were shaking from the throne being dropped and causing the ground to shake.

"That's okay!" Sally said in shock and excitement as she was set down by the elder Hedgehog cousin. "Thank you, Collin."

"I live to serve." Collin chuckled as he rubbed the back of his spiky helm. He sorta looked like a knight in green hedgehog armor.

Sally rolled her eyes and then noticed Bunnie kneeling before her. "Princess Sally Acorn! You are my hero!" The bunny praised. "Ah meant no disrespect! It's always been mah dream to be your hairdresser!"

Sally smiled. "And I need one! But first, Join us Freedom Fighters!" Sally invited, happy to not only gain a stylist, but also another girl on the team who could keep up with her!

"YES! WE NEED ALL WE CAN GET!" Antoine yelled as he rushed into the room, out of breathe and panicking about something, not even caring about the fact that there was a young lady with half of her limbs having been robotosized in front of him.

Bunnie took notice of him though. "My, oh my! Who is that li'l ole soldier boy?"

Collin grinned as he imagined the French boy with the Southern Belle. "That's Antoine D'Coolette." He explained smoothly. "He's the son of a general who was captured in the early years, and is head of security here in Knothole."

"I call him, **_The Head Windbag!_** " Sonic chuckled, earning a smack to the back of the head by his older cousin. "Worth it."

"Highness! It was this big! No, BIGGER! REALLY!" Antoine was bumbling along, trying to explain something to the princess.

"You interrupted us to talk about your fishing trip?" Sally scowled, misunderstanding the French coyote.

Boomer however noticed a rumbling. "What's that rumbling noise?"

The coyote then looked at his best friend with exasperation. "THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU ALL! Robotnik built a gigantic burrobot that's tearing up the great forest above us!"

Sonic's eyes lit up with adrenaline as he rushed to deal with the problem, Bunnie right on his tail. "Stand back, everyone! This is a job for Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"And his new **_Botbustin_** partner, **_Rabbot!_** " Bunnie exclaimed as she chased after.

Antione finally noticed the young lady, a spark of delight in his eyes at her bravery. "Who and what is that?"

"Exactly!" Was all Boomer could think of.

"Let's see what she can do!" Sally smirked.

Collin merely looked at the hole with concern. True, he didn't often join in on the main parts of the fight that included Robotnik, but he was starting to feel that his disabilities were becoming more of a hinderance than he had let Sonic believe. Sally only rarely let the young genius out of the village, and even so, it had to be with Sonic or someone for his health conditions. At this point though, he severely wished that he was capable of helping his cousin, just as the young lady was. "Oh… scrap metal!" Collin groaned as he ran after the two.

Collin growled as he made his way through the tunnels, in an attempt to catch up. He'd be damned if he let some new dame help his cousin more than he could. He made it just in time to see Sonic poke his head out of the secret entrance. "Okay, where is that flea-bitten bucket of bolts at?"

"Get back down heah, Sugah!" Bunnie called with worry, only to see Collin quickly dash past her with amazing speed for someone who wasn't Sonic, and tackle his cousin, barely saving him from being crushed by the burrobot above.

"Next time, listen to the lady. I don't much care for Sonic Pancakes!" Collin scowled as they looked up the hole that used to hide their entrance.

"Heh, right, thanks. Sorry, guys." Sonic grimaced.

"That's fine, Sugah, but do y'all got a plan?"

"I sure do, Bunnie!" Sonic smiled as they sped off. "Watch my smoke! Collin, you go back home, you're not well!" He told his older cousin.

Collin merely scowled as the younger sped off. "That doesn't cut it anymore, Sonic." Collin kept up surprisingly well with Bunnie, considering he was in skates, and she was bouncing with her robotic legs. He took a glance and knew instantly that turning them into rockets would be much easier for the girl.

"I'm gonna play the game of **_Twister_** with him!" Sonic called as he started to run fast. "And I provide the tornado!"

Bunnie and Collin stopped on a hill nearby to watch, one with curiosity, the other with concern. "Gracious me! Sonic's quite a hero! But ah could tell Princess Sally has designs on that hedgehog!"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Collin grimly chuckled before noticing something. "Oh no! The burrobot's turning! SONIC!" Collin cried out as he skated down there.

The burrobot had turned towards the hedgehog and blasted him with a stun gun. "Sonic the hedgehog has been lured into the open as expected. Initiate attack sequence!"

"A trap!" Sonic realized all too late as he was blasted. "AAGH!"

The blue hedgehog was blasted right into the hands of his green armored cousin as he skated by. "Gotcha, Sonic! BUNNIE, NOW!" Collin called as he pulled Sonic onto his back and skated quickly through the hills.

"HEY! I was supposed to crush him under my treads!" The burrobot shouted as it chased the cousins. Suddenly the bot found himself turning incorrectly, until he landed on his head. "Does not compute! I am being tossed upside down! MMMF!"

Collin brought himself to a stop as he felt his cousin waking up, and stopped near Bunnie. "Are you kids alright?" He looked between the two with concern.

Bunnie looked at him funny. "Fo' Sure!" She then shouted to the large bot that was stuck on it's head. "Let that be a lesson to y'all, nobody bashes blue boy when li'l ole Bunnie's around!"

"Hehe, nice use of your new arm." Collin smirked.

Sonic finally noticed what had happened. "Wow! She used her super strength to toss that burrobot backwards!" (Seriously, where are the captain obvious hats, you guys…) Sonic didn't like getting outdone, and he rushed forward. "Now **_Hare_** this, I'll finish the job, Buns!"

Bunnie looked at him with some concern as he had ignored his cousin, who had caught him. "Whatevah y'all say, Sugah!" Then she noticed his speed. "Wow! Zero to sixty in 0.00001 seconds!"

"Hehe, that's my little cousin for you, all speed, and no manners." Collin sighed in relief as he was assured the young hedgehog was fine.

"Well, butter mah cornbread, Sonic! Why are you runnin' around in circles?"

Both cousins smirked at this. "You'll see!" They chorused.

"Oh my stars! He dug a huge trench 'round the bot," Bunnie's eyes widened in amazement.

Collin then started laughing. "Which just collapsed on itself, burying the bot as well!"

"But not me!" Sonic chuckled as he jumped out of the way at the last second. "WHEEE!"

"Nice one, Sonic." Collin smiled as he skated over to his cousin.

"Thanks, but you still shouldn't have left Knothole." Sonic scolded lightly. While he wanted his cousin to be braver, he was still worried about his health.

Collin rolled his eyes. "Sonic, I'm older. If you really want me to stay in Knothole, then give me a reason to stay. Otherwise, I'm helping. I can't keep letting you run off like this. I know you don't always see me out on missions with you, but I'm in this fight just as much as you are, Sonic. So please, don't count the rest of us out just because we aren't fast enough to always keep up."

Sonic looked at his cousin with tears threatening to show. "Yeah, alright." He was proud of his cousin's resolve, though he wished that it hadn't been because he himself had been so careless.

 ** _A short time later, back in the secret underground village of Knothole…_**

"Welcome aboard, Bunnie! You make a great Freedom Fighter!" Boomer congratulated the young lady as they returned to the main cavern.

"Thank ya, Boomer! But of course, let's not forget…" Bunnie started.

"We know," Sally smiled. "You want to be a hairdresser." The princess chuckled. "Just as soon as Robotnik's ruined, okay?"

"Meanwhile, you can practice on 'Twan's hair when he's not using it!" Sonic laughed as he pulled his friend's toupee off.

"HEY!" Antoine cried out in embarrassment as he tried to snatch it back.

"Or on Collin's hair."

"Wha? Hey!" Collin scowled under his armor. True, he knew he needed a haircut, but he could do it himself! He didn't want to scare Bunnie off with his horrid looks. "NO way, I cut my own hair, thanks!"

"He has hair?" Bunnie asked.

"I'm adopted, so I'm not the same species as my cousin, under this helmet." Collin explained in an annoyed but dull tone. "I don't think I'm quite ready to show my ugly mug yet though."

With that, Collin walked off with a huff. Bunnie looked a little sad at that though. "Does he really think he looks that bad?"

"Yeah, he…uh… well… before my uncle took him in, he wasn't exactly wanted by his home town. He's still sensitive on it, which is pretty impressive, considering this happened before I was even born." Sonic explained as best he could, finally giving back his friend's hair piece.

"Collin's just shy. He actually looks fine, but, he is a bit sensitive towards his species and looks... He'll show his face again… one day." Sally sighed as she thought about it. It was back to another day in the Freedom Fighters for them.


	9. Chapter 9

The Lizard of Odd Part 1

Robotnik was angry. "Sonic the hedgehog shall never defeat me again! So help me, the next animal that's captured will be turned into the ultimate killer robot!" The fat dictator shouted as he slammed a fist onto his desk.

Crabmeat, his most loyal servant, and most constantly rebuilt, looked out the window and noticed some bots coming in. "You're in luck, oh Flabulant One!" He pointed out the window at the crate they were bringing in. "Here comes the wagon!"

The two ran outside, Robotnik actually excited about the prospect of a new robot that could kill the hedgehog. "Oh, Goody! It looks like they landed a big one!"

"Indeed, my lumpy lord! They're using the extra large container!"

One of the swatbots came over with a taser gun. "Stay back, Excellency! We're unloading the catch!"

Robotnik was really excited now. "Oboyoboyoboyoboyoboy! What is it? A rhino? An elephant?"

His dreams were quickly crushed by the farthest thing from his mind; "A salamander, sir!"

"WOT!" Robotnik started to strangle the nearest swatbots. "You got me all excited and made me vow to create a super robot out of a SALAMANDER?!"

The robot choked. "But he's big for his age! Ack!"

Robotnik growled. "Well, I always keep my word," He picked up the tiny lizard with a sneer. "Like now, I promise you three bots will spend the rest of your unnatural lives in the slag shop!" The three swatbots started to cower and plead. "Take them away, Crabmeat!"

"Move along boys!"

" ** _Woe is us!_** " The three bots exclaimed as they entered the shop.

Robotnik made his way over to his Robo-machine *patent pending*, and dropped the salamander into the insert slot. "Oh well, here goes nothing." He turned to a Buzzbomber that was in the room. Buzzbombers looked sorta like wasps with jets on their backs as well as wings. "Robotocize him, Buzzbomber!"

"Yes, Master!" The Buzzbomber turned on the controls, as activating the Robotocizer was required knowledge for every bot. Other stuff, not so much.

"Whew! I'm sweating 10-W-40…" Robotnik complained as he wiped oil sweat from his bald head with a polka-dot handkerchief. "Crank up the A.C.!"

"Uhh…sure…hmm…" The Buzzbomber was confused. "Which button?" It asked before accidently pushing a switch.

Suddenly a red alert came on. Robotnik panicked. "NO! You bumbling bee! That's the size control switch! The robot will grow out of control!"

Sure enough, the factory exploded, Robotnik and the Buzzbomber barely surviving it. Robotnik regained consciousness in time to see a giant robotic salamander staring at him with black eyes and sharp fangs.

"Suffering Sub-plots! The little lizard's become enormous!"

"And powerful!" the metallic menace snorted. "Your machine's overload has made me the strongest robot ever! This world will soon belong to: UNIVERSALAMANDER!" (try telling that one to your teacher. "The new president/dictator is Universalamander!")

 ** _Meanwhile, in the underground village of Knothole, where we find…_**

Collin was adjusting his skates to have rockets on them so that he could help out more, while Sonic was making sure that his cousin's emergency kit was packed full of his usual medical supplies. "You sure it's a good idea for you to start leaving Knothole more? I mean, I'm excited, but…"

"You're worried I'll get worse, aren't you?" Collin scowled under his green cloak. "Relax, will you? Besides, you're younger than me, and you think that I'm actually okay with you risking your life to fight this all on your own? I'll remind you that I've been fighting as well… you just don't always see me."

"Never mind the family squabbles, guys! Look at what's on the screen!" Boomer pointed to his large computer screen that was a scanner for the different zones of the planet. It was currently showing the Great Forest's surface.

"I can't believe it!" Sally exclaimed as the image got clearer.

Sonic took a look and noticed the lizard on the screen. "Neither can I! Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom is out on the Gametendo Switch already?" Sonic joked weakly. Collin had started running to another room, he already had an idea.

"It's not a video game! It's a menace!" Sally scowled. "It's a gigantic Lizard Robot!"

"He's trashing the Great Forest!" Sonic gasped as he realized what was happening.

"And coming this way!" Boomer whimpered, concerned as to how they would deal with this.

"NO WAY! I'm going to **_intercept_** him! I hope there's some pro football scouts watching, hehe!" Sonic joked, as was his coping mechanism. He reached the surface, only to find Robotnik flying off in one of his machines. "What the? It's Robotnik… taking off in his Egg-o-matic?"

"Universalamander is too powerful! I'm getting off Mobius before he destroys it, and me!" The cowardly dictator shouted as he flew off.

Sonic had yet to turn around and see what was coming close. "What's he so afraid of?" He turned at the sound of a mighty roar. "YIPE! Things on TV always look bigger in real life!" Sonic became determined and did the one thing his cousin always told him not to do, he acted before thinking. "Heads up, Scaleface! Let's see what you think of a Sonic Spin!"

"I think it looks delicious!" The over grown lizard remarked before snapping it's jaws down on the hedgehog, eating him whole!

"HEY!" Sonic shouted from inside its mouth.

"Oh my gosh!" Boomer gasped from inside of Knothole. The Freedom Fighters were watching from the monitor, with Tails and Antoine having joined in.

"He **_ATE_** Sonic!" Antoine's eyes were wide in shock as he tried to process this.

"I'm astounded!" Sally placed a hand on her chest as she tried to keep herself calm.

Tails was having a hard time believing it too. "They must've done it with mirrors!" He looked over at Collin who was finishing putting on his Hedgehog shaped helmet, "Right, Uncle Collin?"

"If that's so, I'm going to go break some mirrors with that guy's head." The green "hedgehog" scowled as he marched out. "No one gets to eat my cousin and not get some serious heartburn, so keep an eye on the screen, kids."

The giant salamander was still trying to keep Sonic in its jaw, being unable to chew him properly for some reason. "Yuk! I forgot the old saying: Never eat anything **_Blue_**!"

"HEY! Who turned out the lights?" Sonic cried out from inside the creature's mouth while trying to avoid the teeth.

"You're a little stringy, but Universalamander will manage to chew you up!"

Sonic gulped. "I was really hoping his name was **_Herbie Vore!_** "

The lizard chomped once more, blocking off any view of the hedgehog. Tails finally realized it wasn't an act. "NO!"

"It can't be!" Sally gasped.

"Impossible!" Antoine cried as his toupee flew off in shock.

"And yet it's true!" Rotor started to shake. "Sonic the hedgehog is *gasp* gone!"

Part 2

Antoine, most surprisingly, was the first to recover from the shock of Sonic getting eaten. "Sonic the Hedgehog will be **_scavenged!_** " His English still needs work…

Thankfully, Boomer's still up for helping him. "That's Avenged, Antoine!"

Tails was crying into a hankie at the loss of his best friend whom he thought of as a brother. Sally was the only one paying attention to the screen still. "What on Mobius is he doing?"

"Huh?" The boys looked onto the screen to notice a familiar "Green Hedgehog" on screen, waiving at the overgrown lizard.

"HEY!" The lizard looked at the tiny figure. "Spit him out, right now!"

The lizard was having a hard time keeping Sonic in his mouth. "This hedgehog just isn't agreeing with me…" He grumbled as he started towards the green hedgehog that was really Collin.

"A Freedom Fighter never agrees with two-bit dictators!" Sonic shouted from inside the salamander's mouth. He was attempting to do a Sonic Spin inside the lizard's mouth. "I'm cooking with gas!"

Collin could hear him, and was relieved that the hedgehog was still moving. He himself used his rocket skates to launch himself up and kick the overgrown lizard in the stomach. "Then I'll light the fire and we'll give him some heartburn he won't forget!" Collin gritted his teeth as he landed his kick, causing his cousin to be launched from the salamander and into his arms as he landed nearby. "You okay?" He asked as he put the spit covered hedgehog down.

"Yeah, it wasn't pretty, but it worked. Thanks."

"Anytime… Look out!" He pushed Sonic out of the way, barely managing to evade a tree that was now being used as a club.

"SWINE! You'll pay for humiliating Universalamander!" The dinosaur of a lizard looked between the two, snarling.

"It's apparent he'd rather not discuss our **_family tree_** , Collin!" Sonic pointed out as the two backed away.

"Then we'd better take our **_leaf_** now, Sonic!" Collin agreed as the two broke away from the tree that was about to smash them.

"I need to make it to a star post!" Sonic called to his cousin.

"I'll distract him! We piled up some rings and the chaos emeralds near the one over there!" Collin pointed to a nearby bush. "Good luck!"

"You too!"

The two split off, and luckily, the lizard chased Collin instead of Sonic. Sonic made it through to a Special zone where he collected a few more rings without getting hurt, 50 rings to be exact, and transformed into something that only he and Collin had used once or twice before; Super Sonic! A golden version of the hedgehog that shined and shimmered, leaving a trail of sparks in his wake, and seemed to make him invincible for a short time.

When he got out of the Special Zone, he found, much to his horror, his cousin was trapped in the hands of the giant Universalamander! "URGH!" Collin grunted as he struggled to escape.

"Put him down, Lizard lips!"

"You wanna stop me? You gotta go **_Through_** me…"

Super Sonic took the challenge and literally jumped through his opponent, catching him by surprise. "Oh, did I neglect to mention… that's another of my **_Super Sonic Powers:_** The ability to jump through enemies!"

"Hey! Th-that tickles!" Universalamander was threw Collin into the air in his shock.

"SONIC!" Collin cried out as he fell fifty feet through the air. Sonic quickly jumped and caught his cousin.

"Gotcha!" Collin gently put his cousin down. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine!" Collin pulled something out of a bag he had been wearing. "Here, it's the reduce/enlarge component from the swatbots truck we trashed last month! I thought it would come in handy and grabbed it, but, I suppose in my panic, I forgot it was in my bag!" He had a nervous grimace under his helm.

"No prob, Cuz. You rock!" Sonic smirked. "You just saved me the trip back to Knothole!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang were watching from inside Knothole. "Abalone!" Rotor was surprised. "Did you see that move?"

"Oui! I must admit, Sonic is amazing." Antoine smirked ruefully. He knew the hedgehog had his moments.

"I hope Collin's alright out there with him. He's not exactly strong enough to keep up, is he?" Sally asked.

Tails was busy hero worshiping his older brother and cousin. "My heroes!"

Sonic took a few seconds to learn the controls before he pointed the enlarger/reducer tech at the dinosaur sized salamander. "Hey, Universalmineo! Let's make **_small talk!_** "

Collin smirked as he stood beside his glowing cousin, feeling some of the invincibility helping himself heal as well.

"You fool! You can't stop me!" The monster roared as it came closer to the two. "Now I shall crush you beneath my…" Sonic had turned on the device, causing the lizard to shrink back to its original size. "feet?"

"You were saying?" Sonic asked while Collin put the device away.

"GOODBYE!" The salamander ran off as fast as his tiny form could carry him.

 ** _Later…_**

Collin had served dinner for the younger Freedom Fighters, and Super Sonic had just pranked Antoine. Rotor was having a laugh about it. **_"Ha!_** He put a whoopee cushion on Antoine's chair! Super Sonic has a **_Super_** sense of humor!"

Sonic was laughing along with him, as was everyone but Antoine. Collin didn't really laugh so much as he gave a light chuckle. It had looked like a close call that day, but in the end, Sonic could have handled it himself. 'I wish I was able to help more… they're still just children…'


	10. Chapter 10

**Antoine's Vain Refrain!**

Antoine D'Coolette stood dramatically as he gave a speech in front of the princess and Collin Hedgehog. He held a hand to his head and sighed dramatically. "As I knew it would, Vanity triumphs again!" He then took the pose of someone using a sword in combat. "To quote **_Cyrano De Bergerac:_** Ah, Vanity… I knew you would overthrow me in the end!" Antoine then grabbed a skull and did a Hamlet bit. "Vanity, thy name may be woman, but do you not haunt us all?" Then he got on bended knee and cried. "Alas! Judge me not by my cowardice in the face of overwhelming vanity!" Then he pretended to faint. "Behold, I swoon beneath the eternal enigma that is vanity!"

Sally was not amused, but Collin was having a hard time controlling his laughter from not only all the puns, but the overdramatic soldier boy's act! "Are you quite through, Antoine?"

Antoine sighed. "Yes… I suppose…"

"Then will you please assemble my **_vanity_**?" She asked again.

"But, Princess," He sat up slightly and held the instructions. "These instructions are confusing!" He gave an example as Collin took the instructions. "Insert lock brace G into Base E with tap bolt F… see fig. 5…"

"and done…" The two children looked at the teenager who was standing in front of the lady vanity that had been built. "Nice act though, it was a riot." Collin laughed as he exited the room, leaving Antoine and the princess in surprise.

 **Bad-niks Bazaar**

"Sonic the hedgehog will never escape me a second time!" shouted a robotic simian. "I, _**Coconuts** , _will blow him to bits with my _**exploding coconuts**!_" The monkey laughed as he threw one to the ground to demonstrate.

"You tried that and failed!" A robotic chicken squawked. "But we, the **_Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad_** will not!"

"Yeah!" Said his shorter drill like accomplice.

"Next time he'll be pecked into submission by **_Scratch_** , the robot chicken!" The chicken then demonstrated his skills by pecking a hole into a nearby concrete wall.

"No need for that with **_Grounder_** around! I shall launch a pair of surface-to-Sonic misguided missiles!" the shorter robot explained as his drill hands were replaced with missile launchers. No one had explained to him that he wanted to use "Guided" missiles instead of "Misguided" missiles to stop the hedgehog.

"HEY! Keep the noise down back there!" A lady at a desk shouted. On her desk was a sign that said "Villain Auditions: Sign up and take a number." The three bots had a bit of a line in front of them, including what appeared to be Dr. Gloom, Dex Duthmore, the Mean Goblin, and a few other crazy looking characters.

Scratch sighed as he grabbed his number. "These try-outs are humiliating!"

"I'll say!" Grounder agreed.

"That goes double for me!" Coconuts muttered.

 **Hare Styling**

Sonic and Collin were walking through the tunnels of Knothole when they noticed a sign that said "Bunnie's". Bunnie was standing just outside of it. "Are y'all comin' to mah new beauty salon, boys?"

"Um…" Collin shook his head under his cloak. He still wasn't comfortable with what was underneath it.

"Ah'll be glad to style your li'l ole heads in a minute," She hadn't noticed Collin's nervousness. "As soon as ah finish with Princess Sally!" Sally walked over to a chair that had been set up.

"You've opened a hair salon?" Sonic was genuinely curious.

Bunnie smiled. "Just in between battles with Robotnik! As you know, bein' a hayah dresser is mah goal in life, you ready, Sally-girl?"

"Yes, thanks, Bunnie."

"C'mon in, Sugah," She swiveled the chair as the boys entered with a slight curiosity. "This only takes a few seconds," Bunnie grimaced. "One style, no waiting!"

" ** _ONE_** style?" Both boys questioned, now more concerned than before.

Bunnie nodded as she placed a hand on Sally's hair. "Sho'nuff," She smiled. "Ah just dip my bionic bootie in this here puddle and voila," Sally's hair was now frizzed out like an afro. "Instant Permanent!"

Sally looked in the mirror with a giggle. "That's a **_Hare_** raising experience!"

Collin rolled his eyes, but Sonic gave out a chuckle. "If Collin let you do that, then you could make him look more like an actual hedgehog!"

Collin then scowled. "And if you want to keep your quills where they are then you should start running." The elder cousin started to chase Sonic around, both knowing it was futile, but having some fun about it. Sonic only just kept ahead of Collin. Quiet days were the best.


	11. Chapter 11

Tails' Little Tale

Sonic the hedgehog was taking a nap under an oak tree at the edge of the village of Knothole's exit, one sunny afternoon. Tails was bored and decided to play hero while his big hero, Sonic, was napping. He stood on a nearby hill, unaware of the danger just behind him as he posed. "From this vantage point I can see for miles! If any danger arises, it won't escape my sight!"

Unbeknownst to him, Ivo Robotnik and his robots were celebrating his return after having fled the planet for a short time to escape from Universalamander's wraith. "Now that the menace to Mobius has passed, it's time for us to reappear!" He raised a can of oil to the air in his robotic hand. "This company picnic has been fun, but now it's time to get back to work! Here's oil in your eye!" The robots laughed along with him. He then threw the can down, littering like always. "Now go, my beauties! Let them quiver at the catch phrase: **_Robotnik Returns!_** Leave nothing living alive! Burn! Pillage! Terrorize! JAYWALK!"

His robots all started to disperse, having fun with the ideas of trouble they would cause. One Buzzbomber noticed young Tails on a hill. "Follow me, Orbinaut! I see a fool on the hill! And his name is Tails!"

"HEY!" Tails shouted as he was plucked off of the hill by the Buzzbomber.

"An excellent hostage!" Orbinaut chuckled. "Hold him steady so I can use him for target practice!"

Tails started to panic. "NO! Don't! Wait!" He tried to get himself loose from the Buzzbomber's grip.

"Stay still!" The wasp like contraption chuckled.

"Don't worry," Orbinaut started to spin his mace balls around himself faster. "A mace to the face will quiet him down," He threw one of his mace balls at Tails. " ** _Permanently!_** "

"YIPE! What would my hero, Sonic, do in this situation?" Tails then got an idea and started to spin a bit, knocking the mace ball back to Orbinaut. "First of all, he'd mark this thing **_Return to Sender!_** " He then got himself off of the Buzzbomber. "Answer me this, Buzzbomber," He swatted his two tails together, destroying the robot in question. "What is the sound of two tails clapping?" Tails looked down at the destroyed robots as his tails kept him flying. "My patented Tailspin will keep me aloft while those two badniks eat terra firma!" Unfortunately, this was where our young friend experienced an ego boost that would get him into trouble, much like his hero usually does. "What a glorious Victory! I'm undefeated!" You only had one fight, Tails… "I'm the Michael Jordan of Freedom Fighters!" Seriously, kid? One fight! "I'm gonna take out Robotnik single-handed! Old Blubber Bolts doesn't stand a chance against me! Luckily I'm not the overconfident type!" …

Tails flew all the way over to one of Robotnik's factories, where he was sure that the fat man was hiding out at. He thought he was flying in through a window to beat up Robotnik, but when he increased his speed, he ended up flying right into a wall! What had appeared to be a shadow of the overly obese man, had turned out to be a **_shadow puppet_** created by a swatbot!

The two swatbots in the room were surprised as they grabbed the young two tailed fox, and picked him up. "Let us insert him into the Robot-Maker!"

Tails regained his bearings just as they were bringing him into the room with the robotocizer machine. "Egad! What would my hero, Sonic, say in a situation like this?"

"He'd probably say something like **_Drop that fox, swatbots!_** " came the voice of Collin Hedgehog as he did his own variation of a Sonic Spin with his green hedgehog gear on and a sword! It wasn't Antoine's sword, but it was just as sharp, if not sharper. "But hey, what do I know about my cousin, eh?"

"Coll-oof!" Tails was dropped to the ground by the bots as they realized they were outmatched, or at least that a hedgehog was in the room, they weren't all that bright.

"Lucky thing I noticed you sneaking off and tailed you, Tails." Collin grabbed the young fox's wrist and pulled him back.

"Is Sonic here? He can trash these bots now!"

"Not if we hit our Self-destruct buttons first!" The bots shouted.

"All right! Now we can-wha?" Collin grabbed Tails and activated his rocket skates, allowing them to quickly skate out through the hole that Collin had made with his sword and his spin dash attack. "Huh?"

"Now we can vamoose! It's a set-up!" The two of them barely managed to get to a nearby hill before the building exploded with an impressive fashion.

"YOW! Those swatbots…" Tails started in shock.

"They were rigged to explode! We only just made it!" Collin sighed and bend down to look at the young fox square in the face behind his helmet. "While I'm impressed with your fighting skills today, let's hope this incident has taught you a bit about patience, eh?"

"Absolutely! From now on, I'll look before I leap!" Tails then thought of something. "Hey, Collin?"

"Yes, Tails?"

"How do you know how to use a sword? And… am I in trouble?"

"A little, and I learned from Antoine's father when I was little. I'm not as good as he is, but I help Antoine with it sometimes."

"Huh…"

"I'll make you a deal, Tails…" Collin grimaced. "Don't tell the others that I had to save you, and I won't tell them that you went off on your own for this one."

Tails' eyes lit up. "Deal!"

"Good."

"So how did you learn how to do a Sonic Spin?"

Collin froze at that one… "Er… that wasn't… I mean… um…"


	12. Chapter 12

Olympic Trials and Errors Part 1

Collin was in his sports armor that made him look like a green robotic hedgehog, sitting on a field as he and Tails watched Sonic play baseball by himself. "Show off!" Collin laughed as Sonic hit and then caught his own ball.

"Sonic the hedgehog is the only baseball player who can hit a line drive and catch it himself!" Tails smiled. "That's why he's my sports hero!"

"He's always your hero!" Collin pointed out as he smiled. He had been feeling a lot better being allowed outside more since the Universalamander incident, though he had to admit, it was probably because he had felt stronger near Super Sonic's form. He had a theory that if he ever tried to harness the power of the magic rings, it might help him more, but he shrugged it off, knowing how dangerous all that was.

"Not always… Sometimes Princess Sally's my hero…" Tails blushed a bit as he realized that Sonic **_was_** always his hero. "Besides, he's cool!"

"Now I'll hit a long fly ball," Sonic called as he tossed the ball and swung it, hitting it hard. "And snatch it even before it hits the… OOF!" Sonic had crashed into an overly large stadium!

"Sonic!"

"Are you okay?" Tails reached him first with his twin tails flying.

"I-I think so, guys! Now I know what people mean when they say they're stopped in their tracks! What is this thing?" Sonic was a little bruised, but he'd be fine.

"It's a stadium! Robotnik Stadium to be exact!" Collin grumbled.

A nearby Swatbot then started to shout as it noticed them. "It was built by your **_Future Master_** , the Bellyness of Jellyness himself, **_Dr. Robotnik!_** "

Collin snarled. "You can go and tell that moronic buffoon that I don't take orders from pompous overweight fools!" Tails was surprised that Collin was so upset at the phrasing. The green hedgehog looked menacing enough given that his mouth never opened when he talked, and his body suit had the look of the robotosized when you got close enough.

Sonic placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder to calm him down and remind him that they were there to help. "What's your evil creator up to now?"

"The great Robotnik wishes to challenge you and your friends, the Freedom Fighters, to compete in the first (and for you, the **_last_** ) Robotropolis Olympic Games!" The robot's head light blinked red. "If your team can win one out of four events, my master promises to return the planet Mobius to NORMAL…"

"He's never kept his word on such things, don't trust him, Sonic." Collin hissed.

"But if you fail to win an event, then you must allow yourselves to be turned into Robots!" It was shaking in excitement. "And now, a personal message from Robotnik to Sonic the Hedgehog…" It did a taunting face as best as a faceless bot could with its hands next to his ears. " ** _You can't beat us! Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!_** " The bot then ran away as Sonic and Collin held Tails back from tearing it apart.

"OOOOH! I hate that!" Tails' growled.

Sonic shouted to the bot. "Tell Robotnik we accept his challenge!" He smirked. "I know exactly what they'll say!"

"Don't make me win another bet with your allowance, Sonic." Collin rolled his eyes as he started to drag the two boys back to Knothole. His temper was back, but only just.

 ** _Back at The Great Forest in Knothole Village…_**

"NO WAY, SONIC!" Princess Sally's shout could be heard for miles, startling birds that were still there. "It's got to be a trick, Sonic! Robotnik never keeps his promises!" She looked to Collin for help. "Tell him, Collin!"

"Well…" Before Collin could say anything, Boomer interrupted.

"Oh yes he does, Princess Sally!" The Freedom Fighters looked at him with surprise. "He promised to be mean, gross, rotten, and evil! And he is!"

Collin grimaced. Sonic explained his counter argument; "I know Robotnik can't be trusted, gang, but it's worth the risk! After all, we **_can't_** lose!"

"Overconfident much?" Collin asked.

"And why can we not to be losing, eh?" Antoine asked as well.

"Because, Antoine, **_I_** , Sonic the hedgehog, am the best athlete on the planet Mobius! I'll enter all the events and **_win!_** " Sonic said smoothly, far too confident in his abilities.

"Can **_I_** be on the Olympic team, Sonic?" Tails pleaded. "Can I, please? Can I?"

Sonic was about to say something when Antoine interrupted him. "Don't be ridiculous, Tails! When it comes to athletics, you have **_two left tails!_** "

"Antoine, the expression is two left feet. Also, Tails is quite capable of joining considering his maneuverability and his speed. He's almost as fast as Sonic in some cases." Collin rolled his eyes as he explained.

Antoine ignored him though. "If anyone should be on the team, it is I, Antoine, D'Coolette!" He pulled out his rapier. "Champion Fencer of Mobius!" He says as though his father and Collin hadn't taught him everything he knows about how to use a sword. "En Garde!" He used his sword to cut a Z into Boomer's yellow hat. " ** _Z_** what I mean?" Boomer gulped.

"Antoine! That isn't exactly easy to fix, you know." Collin scowled.

Tails sighed as he walked away sad. "Antoine is right, guys! I'll stay home and watch the Olympics on Robotnik Belly Vision."

Collin caught up to the boy quickly. "How about we make a sculpture as a surprise for when they win the Olympics?"

"Really?"

"I'll help you make it later, alright?"

"Thanks, Uncle Collin."

 ** _On the following day at Robotnik Stadium…_**

"Your enemies have arrived, oh Sleazemeister!" a burrobot shouted over to Robotnik.

"Perfect!" He then turned to a Swatbot. "Are you sure Sonic's not wearing his special sneakers, Swatbot?"

"Positive, Master! After delivering your message, I followed the Hedgehog! And when he took off his sneakers to go swimming, I stole them, and replaced them with the special look-alike, **_energy-draining sneakers_** that you invented!"

"Excellent! What did you do with Sonic's sneakers?"

"I threw them in the **_trash_** , your Evilness!" The swatbot saluted.

"YOU METALLIC MORON! I wanted to put those sneakers in my **_trophy room_** right next to my **_Nursery School Brat of the Year award!_** " He smashed the robot with a hammer and sighed. "Ah! That felt good! And now… Let the games **_BEGIN!_** "

Rotor, Sally, and Antoine were in the bleachers watching the start of the games. Collin was on his way, but he had to do some things first he had said. "Let's go, Sonic!" Boomer cheered while waiving a small flag.

"You can do it, Sonic!" Sally smiled.

Antoine was panicking though. "Remember what happens to us if you fail!"

"Chill, gang! You'll feel more confident after I do a few split-second warm-up laps around the track!" He started to rev up his feet. "Here I **_GO!_** " Suddenly, Sonic felt sick and fell down, curling up into a fetal position.

"SONIC!" Sally and the others jumped out of the stands to check on the blue hero. "What's wrong?"

"I…I don't know!" Sonic mumbled weakly. "I suddenly feel weak and tired… all my energy is gone!"

"I knew it!" Antoine cried. "Get out the metal polish! We're all **_Doomed_** to become robots!"

Part 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog has had his energy drained by my sneaky sneakers! I **_will_** win the Olympics! Prepare the portable robot making machine!" Robotnik shouted to his swatbots.

"YES MASTER!" Three responded as they drove the truck to the center of the arena.

"HOLD ON, ROBOTNIK!" Princess Sally called as Collin entered the field and took a look at his cousin. "If Sonic can't compete then we will take his place!"

Collin ran over to Sonic and knelt down next to him. "What happened, Sonic?" Collin asked gently as he looked his cousin over.

"I feel really weak." Sonic mumbled.

Collin sighed and helped the boy out of his shoes and onto a bench. "Rest here for a bit, I'll try and help the others with the Olympics." Collin then made his way over to where the others were. As he went, he noticed himself feeling weaker and looked at the shoes. His condition hadn't been messing with him since their encounter with Super Sonic… was this his condition or something else? Collin shook his green armored head. "Stinking cheat… these aren't the shoes Dad made for Sonic…"

"Antoine, Boomer, and I will take Sonic's place in the Olympics!" Sally shouted at Robotnik.

"HEY!" Collin shouted to be heard. Everyone turned to him. "Don't count me out of this one, children." Then he threw the shoes at Robotnik. "I believe these blasted energy draining shoes are yours, Julian!"

"WHAT! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT! WHO DARES TO ADDRESS ME AS SUCH?" Robotnik caught the shoes and glared at the green hedgehog before him, whom he didn't recognize in the slightest.

"I'm a Hedgehog, that's enough for you, isn't it?" Collin snapped back.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Robotnik nodded slowly as he growled and then turned back to Sally. "Very well, Princess Sally! I'll enjoy watching you try to defeat my team of evil and powerful badniks!"

Antoine gulped in shock while Collin adjusted a few things on his sports gear. "All we got to do is win once, and we live, right?"

"That's the deal. Collin, are you sure you can…" Sally was nervous about having both Hedgehog cousins down for the count.

"Sonic's weakened, but not down, and I'll be damned before I let that freak get away with turning you all into Robots." Collin glared.

And so, the games began with Antoine attempting the long jump, only to be beaten by a bunny styled bot with a spring for its feet. He bit the dust, literally. Sally attempted to beat a squid bot of some sort, and was washed up. Boomer tried to beat a swatbot in a weight lifting match, only for he himself to be lifted, along with the heavy weight he held! All three of them had failed, and only one challenge remained.

"You're down to your last event, Freedom Fighters! It's all over… unless one of you can win a race against my fastest flying Buzzbomber!" Robotnik laughed evilly.

"I'll race him." Robotnik turned to see the green hedgehog again, at the starting line. "I don't think he's that fast." He said coy like. 'If I have to, I can whip out my rocket skates function. In the meantime though, normal skates will have to do.'

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

"I just need a few more pieces of scrap metal for my sculpture!" Tails said with excitement as he dug around the Robotropolis Junkyard. "YOW!" He said as he had picked up a trash lid. "Those are Sonic's Sneakers! But how did they get here?" Tails quickly picked them up and started running, forgetting that he could fly fast. "Without his special sneakers, Sonic will never be able to compete in the Olympics! I've got to get these to him, and fast!"

 ** _Back at the race…_**

"Come on, Collin, come on!" Sally urged as the green hedgehog skated. The two competitors were pretty close, due to Collin's skates, and the buzzbomber's flying.

"Do you think he is to be having a chance?" Antoine asked in fear.

Sally tried to keep a brave face. "Unless he can pull ahead, and cross the finish line first, we'll be **_Finished_**!"

"Don't count us out yet, Princess Sally!"

Sally quickly turned to notice Sonic was up and back to normal with Tails right next to him. "SONIC!" Sally was exceedingly happy to see the blue hedgehog was alright.

Sonic took notice of the two racers and was amused, if not a little concerned. "Stand back! I'm gonna kick up some dust with hyper-sonic Speed!" In a puff of smoke, Sonic was gone.

Over near the finish line, Collin had noticed his cousin had some sort of plan. Sonic signaled him to back away from the Buzzbomber. Collin gave a small nod and slowed himself down a little bit. Sonic then took off and created a dust storm, causing the robot to get confused. Collin tapped his Hedgehog helmet and was able to see through the dust to where Sonic was pointing. 'Gotta love heat vision!' Collin made his way to where Sonic was, at the finish line, while the robot made his way to the starting line! Sonic then made his way over to the Buzzbomber just as Collin crossed the line.

"I did it! I won the race!" The Buzzbomber was ignorant of what had happened.

"Look again, Buzzbrain!" Sonic taunted.

"You flew backwards and crossed the starting line!" Collin called back. "I won this time."

Robotnik looked at the green hedgehog with anger before roaring orders. "Sonic's got his real sneakers back! Destroy him!"

Sonic started to do a spin attack. "Since you broke your promise, I'll break your robo-machine, with a sonic spin!" As though he wasn't going to anyway.

Robotnik suddenly started to flee. "He shorted my machine! It's going to explode! Everyone for himself!"

Collin and Rotor walked over to the machine, and between the two of them, they took out the plug. "Chill team," Rotor smirked as they showed it. "We pulled the plug!"

Sonic turned to Tails with pride. "You saved us by **_Running_** here, Tails! Even Antoine will admit that you're a good athlete now!"

"Maybe he'll give me fencing lessons, Sonic!"

Collin grimaced as he looked over to their coyote friend. He had fainted in relief of Collin winning the race! "You, er… might have to settle for **_Feinting_** lessons instead…"

"Antoine, wake up! Antoine, we won! Collin won the race!" Sally tried to wake up the poor coyote.

"Oh please, let this be the **_Finish_**!" Antoine groaned as he started to regain consciousness.

"Relax, Antoine, we're done here." Collin sighed. "You alright, Sonic? You looked pretty bad for a bit there."

"I'm fine…" Sonic had a strange gaze in his eyes as he thought about his weak feeling. "Is that… is that how you feel all the time…?"

"That strange weakness from those shoes? I felt it too, and I gotta say… it was similar…" Collin shrugged. "I'm actually getting better now. So quit worrying about me, and let's worry about saving the world from Robotnik."

Sonic grimaced as he looked to his cousin. "Well… if you managed to be as cool as you are while feeling that weak then I guess you really are tough… and can probably handle more than I thought…"

Collin looked at his cousin for a moment before tackling him and ruffling his quills. "I'm only older than you by six years!" Sonic started to laugh. "Of course, I can handle myself! You're the guy who jumps before thinking!"

"Hehe, okay, okay, get off!"

Collin did it for a few more seconds before jumping off of the blue hedgehog. "Alright, let's go home, kids. Sonic, I want to give you another check-up when we get back. Antoine, you too. Feinting isn't exactly healthy."

"Oui, Collin." Antoine agreed.

"I'm fine!" Sonic said as he crossed his arms.

"You were literally curled up and whimpering when I came in here." Collin pointed out as they all started to head home.

"At least I didn't pass out!"

"You were close! If I hadn't taken those shoes off of you, you might have!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" The two cousins kept up their arguing, one having won already, and the other not aware that he had lost.


	13. Chapter 13

Chomp on This, Chump!

"Sonic, Sally, Collin, Tails! Look at the great ant farm this magazine is offering!" Boomer exclaimed as he came in with said article.

The other four were currently wrestling with a spoon and bowl. Tails was pulling on Sonic who was pulling on a spoon. Collin was trying to help Sally with the bowl. "Not now, Boomer!" Sonic grunted.

"We're trying to remove this spoon from Sally's Pancake batter!" Collin responded.

"I may have used too much flour and not enough water!" Sally admitted.

With a startling plop, the batter came out of the bowl, still sticking to the spoon. Tails and Sonic fell to the floor with an "Ooof!"

"Now I know I did!" Sally groaned.

Collin picked up the batter on a stick. While Sonic and Tails picked themselves up. "Sorry, Boomer! What were you saying about your aunt's farm?"

"He said Ant Farm, Sonic." Collin rolled his eyes as he looked at the weird thing on a spoon that was supposed to be edible.

"Take a look!" Boomer grinned.

"Uh… that's really neat, Boomer! But why an ant farm?" Sonic asked with confusion.

"Gee, Sonic…" Boomer scratched his head as though confused by the question. "What could be more exciting than watching a colony of ants crawl around inside a glass case?"

Sonic decided to point out what he thought was obvious; "How about **_not_** watching them crawl around inside a glass case?"

Collin added. "Remaking old inventions that were lost to history due to the war?"

"Very funny guys!" Boomer chuckled as he shook his head. "I'm going to mail my order form right away!"

 ** _Soon…_**

In the city of Robotropolis, Dr. Robotnik was getting excited. "It WORKED! One of those Freedom Fighters mailed away for my **_Phony Ant Farm_**!" Robotnik shouted to a nearby Swatbot. "Hurry up and mail him that package, before there's no package left to mail!"

"Yes, oh Sultan of Slobbiness!" The swatbot with a mail hat grunted as it carried a box that had a chomping sound coming from it.

Robotnik laughed. "Thanks to that ant farm, we can **_ant-ticipate_** the end of Sonic and his friends very soon!"

 ** _Later at Knothole Forest…_**

"It's here! It's here!" Boomer jumped excitedly as he raced through the tunnels to the main area of Knothole where his fellow main Freedom Fighters were, along with young Tails. "My very own Ant Farm! I can't wait to watch for hours and hours and hours…"

"YAWN…" Sonic groaned. "How thrilling." He said sarcastically. Collin was a little more concerned about the jar the ants were supposed to be in. He was holding it up, looking it over. "Where are the ants, Boomer?" Sonic asked while still fake yawning.

"In this metal jar!" Boomer grabbed the jar from Collin. "And from the sound of it, they're mighty hungry!" He started to unscrew the lid.

"Boomer, wait!" Collin cried, but it was too late. The boy had ignored the "Danger Do not open" sign, and now something had come out of the can. A small yellow creature jumped onto Boomer's Oak table, only to devour it in seconds! "YIPES!" Collin jumped away from it quite quickly. "ROTOR TUNDATIOUS WALRUS! LEARN TO READ LABELS!" Everyone was shocked to hear Boomer's full real name come out of the panicked short armored fellow. No one ever called him that anymore!

"My oak table…" Boomer's eyes widened. "It's gone!"

"The ant ate it!" Sally gasped. The yellow muscle bound brute was still chomping on the feet of the table.

"Maybe it's an **_ant-eater_**!" Antoine suggested, only for Sonic to put together what his cousin had already figured out.

"That's **_NOT_** an **_ANT_** at all, Ant…" The blue hedgehog gulped. "It's a **_TERMITE!_** "

"I've never seen a termite like that before!" Boomer exclaimed as Collin handed him a book.

"Check it in the **_Insectlopedia_**!" Collin scowled as he adjusted his armor. He was glad he wasn't in his robes, that was for sure! Who knew what the bug would eat!

Boomer quickly found the bug they were looking for. "HERE IT IS! It's called a **_Termite-nator,_** and it can eat anything made of wood or…" He jumped as the bug ate most of the book right out of his hands "PAPER!"

The termite then started to eat the chairs. Antoine was starting to get really annoyed while the others were getting quite concerned. "Now it's eating the chairs! I won't stand for this!"

Tails chuckled lightly. "You may have to **_stand_** for it, Antoine!"

"That's not the worst part, Gang!" Boomer gulped as he read the small portion of the book that had survived. "According to the book, the more wood a Termite-nator eats…" the but in question started to grow "The more it grows…" it was as big as Sonic now, "and grows…" now it was as big as Boomer! "AND **_GROWS!_** "

"It's worse than that, children! We're in a forest!" Collin pointed out.

Sonic gulped as he caught on. "Knothole is entirely encased in wood from the trees!"

Sally's eyes widened as she thought about it as well. "Soon, we'll have no forest to hide in!"

" ** _Wooden_** you know it!" Boomer gulped.

 ** _A short while later…_**

The kids had fed all of their wooden furniture and most of their books to the termite and it was almost too big for the caverns of Knothole! They couldn't let it get lose on the surface though!

"That was our last piece of furniture, boys!" Sally was concerned as she had no clue what to do now.

"And this is our last book!" The cousins came running in with a cookbook.

"Oh boys, not my favorite cook book!"

"Wait!" Collin's eyes lit up, as did Sonic's. "That wouldn't happen to be…"

"The cookbook you used to make your…"

 ** _"Extra thick pancake mix the other day?_** " The two asked with excitement.

"Why yes, but…"

"Quick, read us the exact same ingredients you used!" Collin shouted as he sped off towards the kitchen.

"This calls for a new sonic speed: Microwave speed!" Sonic brought out a bowl while Collin pulled out the usual ingredients.

Sally started to read them off. "Well I used ten cups of pancake flower, mixed in a dozen eggs, eight sticks of non-fat, non-dairy, lo-cal, high-octane margarine, and by accident only **_one teaspoon_** of water!" The two boys rushed to get it done, Collin almost matching Sonic's speed it seemed in their haste!

"Got it!" Collin finished mixing it all up and handed it to Sonic. "Think fast!"

"Already on it!" The blue hedgehog zoomed off like no one else could out the tunnels.

"Sonic! Where are you going!" Sally called.

"Up to the surface for a hallow log!" Sonic called back.

"Oh good, he didn't need me to tell him!" Collin sighed in relief.

"Huh?" Sally was still confused.

"I'm back dudes!" Sonic smiled deviously as he came in with a log in hand. "Here, bug-breath chomp on this yummy log!" He tossed the log to the overlarge bug.

"Mmmm!" The bug looked at the gift with glee. It took one chomp however and its mouth was sealed tight! "MMPHF!"

Soninc smiled. "I filled the log with Sally's pancake batter! Now his jaws are **_clamped shut!_** "

"I think we should have a closer look at this termite." Collin growled as he and Boomer started towards the overgrown bug.

"Made in Robotropolis!" Boomer exclaimed. "This termite is a robot, built by Robotnik!"

Collin gave a slightly evil looking grin that no one could see under his Hedgehog helm. "Boomer, do you know how to adjust these wires to, hehe… do the opposite of their origin intentions?"

"I think I could use a refresher course, Uncle Collin. Want to help?" Boomer nodded deviously, catching onto the idea.

"Let's get to work."

 ** _The Next Day…_**

"I can't understand it! My Termite-nator Robot should've devoured the entire forest by now!" Robotnik snarled and shouted at the window of his office.

A swatbot entered the office with a large package. "A large wooden crate arrived for you, Master!" On the wooden crate was a simple card that said "To: Robotnik" on the outside.

"For **_ME_**? Hurry up and open it, Hardware head! Perhaps it's a present!" The bot did as told, and the first wall fell. "I've never had a present before, only hate mail, those vile health baskets, and… EEP!" Robotnik shrieked as he was grabbed by a large robotic yellow hand.

The card had fallen to the ground where it openly had the Freedom Fighter's Symbol on it, along with a note in fancy calligraphy:

" ** _Sorry, but we're returning your ant farm to you without the farm, as your termite would no longer fit in it. I hope you don't mind, but we've adjusted it to your liking of metal! Now he loves metal as much as you do! Sincerely, C. H. and the Freedom Fighters…"_**

 ** _Later…_**

"MORE METAL!" Robotnik shouted from the grip of his own four armed creature. "Feed him **_more metal_** before he eats us all!"

Sonic couldn't help but snicker from behind a building at the sight of the swatbots feeding the thing as best they could. "Hehe, Boomer and Collin turned Robotnik's bug into a metal muncher! Isn't that **_Iron-ic_**?"


	14. Chapter 14

Fast Food

Sonic and Collin were talking one evening on their walk around the Great Forest. "…Being the world's fastest hedgehog has many advantages."

"I know that, but there are also disadvantages." Collin smirked from under his cloak.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like…"

"SONIC, COLLIN! Your Dinner is getting…" Sally called, and before she could finish her sentence, Sonic had grabbed Collin and dragged him to where Sally was, and had eaten a whole bowl of fruit before she could finish speaking. "COLD!"

Sonic had gulped it all down in one go, causing his cousin to roll his eyes. "See? I've started eating my dinner before Sally even finished her sentence!"

"Uh-huh…" Collin shook his head and grabbed one of his multiple medical kits that he and Dr. Horatio Quack, the local doctor of Knothole, had stored around the place.

Sonic started to not feel well as Sally came out with their real food. "Of course," He held his stomach. "There's such a thing as being **_TOO Fast!_** "

"Sonic, why did you eat that bowl of **_Wax Fruit_**?" Sally asked as she set the real food down on the table.

Collin answered that one, "Because he didn't **_ap-peal_** to the notion of slowing down and thought he could have a **_split_** second to show off. Now he **_a-pear-s_** to be getting sick." He smirked as he pulled out medicine. "I'll fix him up. Sorry about this, Princess." Collin had started to talk a lot more, not that Sally minded, but she did wish he wouldn't say so many puns. She was used to it though. The others did more.

"I'll keep your food warm for you, Collin."


	15. Chapter 15

The Spin Doctor!

"Sonic the Hedgehog will lead us into battle!" Princess Sally cried as the crew marched towards the factory to take on Dr. Robotnik. Princess Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, Boomer, Antoine, and Tails were all following the blue hedgehog towards the factories.

"This surprise attack on Robotnik's factory will shut him down once and for all!" Sonic shouted as they came to the surprisingly quiet factory. "HUH?" The group came to a screeching halt.

"Wow! That was fast!" Boomer was confused as a sign on the door said that the factory was closed down once and for all, just as Sonic had said it would be.

There was a note addressed to Sonic on the door. Sonic grabbed it and read it out loud. "Sonic- I have moved my robo-operations deep inside the Mt. Mobius Active Volcano! You'll never stop me know, so don't even try - ** _R_** "

"It's a trap!" Stated Sally.

"Don't do it!" Boomer pleaded.

With a "FOOOOOOOSH!", Sonic was gone with the wind. Sally sighed as the lot closed their eyes to keep the dust out. "I might as well be talking to the wind!"

Boomer agreed as Antoine's toupee flew into his awaiting hand, having expected it. "You are, Princess, you are!"

 ** _Soon…_**

Sonic arrived at a large volcanic mess of a mountain that was surrounded by lava and looked not only stupid, but hideous as well. Fire was spewing out of the sides needlessly, and a set of rails were leading into the mouth of the mountain. Sonic wasn't paying attention to the lever that looked suspiciously like a pinball lever for hitting pinballs.

"Wow! His Veg-O-Fortress sits on an island protected by a sea of lava!" Sonic then looked down against the rails he was leaning against. "and what are these rails for?"

Deep within the fortress, Dr. Robotnik was chuckling. "Allow me to show you, Mr. Soon-to-be-deep-fried Hedgehog!" He pushed a red button, and with a "TWAK", Sonic was pushed into the lava, skidding across it and burning his quills a bit.

"YEOW!" Sonic barely managed to get onto the rails before he was completely fried. "Collin's gonna be real upset about those burns, but I get it now! These are like pinball rails! Okay, Robotnik…" He started moving faster. "Here I come!"

"PERFECT!" Robotnik shouted as the hedgehog came into his trap. "He's headed straight into the Veg-O-Fortress! That Hot Dog Hog doesn't stand a chance!" He jumped up in excitement. "Once Sonic is eliminated, this new Veg-O-Converter will robotocize the planet and Robotnik will rule at last!"

 ** _Back with Sonic…_**

"This pinball defense system reminds me of the Casino Night Zone!" He placed a hand over his nose to block the scent of the now purple pool of toxic waste he was traveling over. "These toxic caves are full of Radioactive waste! I'll bet there are some serious mutated robots down here!" He stated, unaware of the sea serpent one he was nearing.

Suddenly a green robotic sea serpent grabbed him by his spines. "Say hello to **_Rexon…"_** It tossed Sonic in the air to get a better grip. "Or as my enemies call me…" It grinned as it caught Sonic in it's mouth. _" **ULP!"**_ Sonic rolled his eyes at that, sorta startled that he had been caught by surprise by a giant mechanical sea serpent. The lizard then dragged him up to where a crazy looking scorpion robot was standing with Robotnik's face on it. "I'd like you to meet the boss of this zone… Scorpius!"

"This whole situation **_Stings!_** " Sonic groaned. Scorpius merely hissed. Sonic decided to use a spin attack on the two. "This oughta get their heads spinning…" He bounced between the two bots heads until they broke, then landed on the rails again. "Too bad these bots weren't more level-headed!"

Watching from his screens in his hidden room, Robotnik slammed his fist, spilling oil cans all over the place. He snarled as he glared at Sonic's teasing on the screen. "Sonic managed to get past the caves… but he'll never live through the next level!"

Sonic soon found himself heading towards a cart on tracks. "End of the rail trail! Time to hop a freight car!" There was an arrow that pointed to the next location: **_To: Lava Powerhouse_**.

"G'Day, Sonic!" a grey kangaroo called to the blue hedgehog. He and his friend were hopping nearby. "We're Hip and Hop! Two kangaroos that escaped Robotnik!"

"Watch out for the **_Ferrons_** up ahead, mate!" The other kangaroo supplied.

"Thanks, Aussies!" Sonic nodded as he zoomed off in his cart.

Robotnik glared at the screen. "How **_Kanga-Rude_** those two fugitives were! But I'll roboticize them after Sonic's demise!" He steamed as he made a memo. The two kangaroos were already hopping out of the lair though.

Sonic soon entered a room with Ferron bots. "YOW! Ferrons to the left of me!" He turned his head. "Ferrons to the right of me!" Sonic jumped out and pounded the bots. "Like Collin says… **_All's Ferron love and war…_** " Sonic grimaced. "And I hate to admit is, but I **_Love_** this **_war!_** "

"AAAAARRGGHHH!" Robotnik howled as Sonic called into the cameras.

"Yo-Robo! I haven't had this much fun since Collin gave me some metric bolts for your Roboxer shorts!" Sonic chuckled. Sonic's attention was quickly directed to a bunch of animal sounds. "That sounds like helpless animals in distress! But, where are they?" Suddenly the platform that Sonic was standing on shot him up as it was another pinball lever. "OOF! I think I'm about to find out!" Sonic was shot through a tube and landed *THUD* hard. When he managed to get his bearings he found himself in front of a cage with many Mobians and animals in need of help. "I was right! A whole bunch of captive animals!"

"Robotnik's planning to turn us all into 'bots!" One cried.

"Not if I can help it…" Sonic started to rev himself up to break the cage when he found himself in something's shadow. "Hey! Who turned out the lights?"

"LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!" Another captive cried out.

Sonic barely managed to jump out of the way of a giant plant with sharp teeth. "Leapin' Blizzards! A huge hedgehog-munching plant!" More of them started to pop up. Sonic noticed a door that had a sign on it stating it would bring him to Robotnik. "Dozens of 'em! I hate to disappoint you botanical badniks, but I've got an appointment with your boss!" Sonic jumped in, not realizing it was a trap until it was too late. "…then again…" He kicked at the door and scowled. "Trapped like a robo-rat!"

"Exactly! You almost got through my veg-o-fortress pinball defense systems, Sonic…" Robotnik exclaimed from a television screen.

"Huh?"

"Better luck next time!" Robotnik laughed as he launched the blue speedster like a pinball once more.

"YEOW!" Sonic came out of the top of the volcano and was falling fast. "As my pal, Arnold says, **_I'll be back!_ " **He looked at the lava rushing up to meet him. "Ulp! If I survive this fall!"

"Grab hold, Sonic!" Tails called as he swooped in at the last minute to save his best friend. "Princess Sally put me on Hover Patrol just in case!"

"Good work, Tails! I have a feeling this isn't my last trip into that volcano!" Sonic growled as he was flown back to shore. He was going to get an earful from Collin about all of his burns and from Sally about his recklessness again.


	16. Chapter 16

Don't Cry for me, Mobius Part 1

The planet Mobius used to be a beautiful and fun place to live… until the evil Dr. Robotnik took over, using his polluting robots. A brave team of Freedom Fighters struggle to overthrow the dictator, led by the fasted creature on two feet, Sonic the Hedgehog, and his friend Princess Sally. Sonic was a blue hedgehog who was currently running away from Robotnik in one of his flying machines as he tried to capture the blue speedster in his pollution.

"This mega-muck will stop you in your tracks, Sonic!"

"You gotta hit me with it first, Robotnik!" The hedgehog laughed.

"And so I shall! I've gauged your speed and now… HEY! No fair jumping!" The dictator bellowed as he missed again.

"All's fair in love and war, Doc… and this ain't love!" The tyrant groaned in anger. Sonic chuckled as he dashed ahead. "Then again, maybe it is. I do **_LOVE_** to drive him crazy!" He sped up again. "Well, that's enough for today… I'd better head back to…" Sonic suddenly screeched to a stop. " ** _WHOA_**! Roadblock!"

"Please! Call me Caterkiller!" a purple and yellow caterpillar robot cackled as it stood threateningly in front of sonic with pointy teeth.

"Haw haw!" Robotnik laughed as he came up from behind the blue hedgehog. "Now you're trapped, Hedgehog! You will tell me the location of Knothole Village or I will encase you in Mega-muck forever!"

Sonic rolled his eyes and started to tap his foot impatiently. "Let you capture my friends and turn them into robots? **_NO WAY_** , Tubby!"

"Then prepare to perish, Sonic!" The Caterkiller laughed as it tried to sneak up on the talking hedgehog.

Robotnik activated his mega muck device once more. "I've been waiting for this moment!"

Sonic merely jumped out of the way, allowing the Caterkiller to be sprayed instead. "Well, you'll have to keep waiting, 'cause a Sonic Spin is gonna keep that Mega Muck off of me!"

"EGAD! It splattered all over my Caterkiller!"

Sonic smirked. "Ain't that just too bad…"

"You're responsible for this, you… you… you…"

"You're needle's stuck, chubby…" Sonic teased. "I'd love to stick around, but I've gotta Juice!" Sonic sped off causing Robotnik to fly into the muck.

"I'll get that hedgehog if it's the last thing I do!" Robotnik cursed as he started to pull himself from the muck.

Sonic smirked as he raced back to the forest. "Catch ya later, Metal Mouth!" Sonic raced through the forest, jumped, swung on a vine which opened a secret hatch into a tree stump, and slid down a chute onto a pile of hay before landing. "I'm BAAAAAAAACK!" He called.

Tails was the first to reach him. The two tailed fox always eager to hang with his "Big Brother/Hero". He jumped up and down excitedly. "Sonic! My hero! Were you battling dozens of Robotnik's evil androids again?"

"Well, I hate to brag, Tails… but…" Sonic smirked as he dusted himself off.

"But he will," Rotor Walrus chuckled as he came in. "Give him a chance."

"Bragging's one thing, Boomer…" Princess Sally Acorn stated as she entered the cavern. "Leaving a trail for Robotnik to follow is another."

Sonic smirked, almost tripping over himself to get to the ground squirrel. "Have no fear, your Royal Worry Wart! I took off at Warp Sonic Speed!" He bragged. "My feet never touched the ground!"

"Hmmph!" Sally crossed her arms, not truly believing it.

Tails however believed it and started to twist his foot in a fast way, about to attempt running at "Super Sonic Speed" to impress Sonic and demonstrate how his hero went. "OH BOY! I know just how he did it! I've been practicing the same move myself! Watch me, everybody!"

"Careful, Tails" Boomer cautioned.

"Here I Gooooo ** _oOOF_**!" Tails tripped over a rock.

Sally smirked. "Aw, isn't it sweet the way he idolizes you, Sonic?" Sonic turned to her with a blush. "Like we all do." Sally then realized what she had said. "Err… I mean all the residents of Knothole! Heh… heh… not me, of course! Imagine that… me idolizing you! Hahahaha…" Sonic laughed along as well, both secretly imagining that.

"Your highness! I have an important announcement!" came the voice of Antoine D'Coolette, the French coyote in charge of security.

"Well if it isn't Antoine D'Coolette…" Sonic smirked while tapping his foot. "Knothole's number one blowhard!" Sonic tended to make fun of Antoine the most due to his cowardice nature, even though the coyote bragged of great bravery.

"Sonic, please!" Sally scolded.

"Ahem…" Antoine tried to regain their attention.

"What's the announcement? Too much starch in your underwear again?" Sonic chuckled.

"Yes, as a matter of fact… er… **_NO_**!" Antoine shook his head. That crisis could be dealt with later. "My message is most urgent!"

"What?" Sally asked patiently.

"A **_Leak_** has been discovered here in Knothole! We could be flooded out… or worse, Robotnik could use "Trickle Down" technology to locate us… and destroy us!" Antoine explained as he showed the leak.

"Oh, how awful!" Sally gasped in concern.

Sonic merely rolled his eyes. "I'll say… Ant needs help delivering dramatic speeches!"

Part 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog must be eliminated!" Robotnik slammed his fist on his desk.

"Yes, Doctor…" A Buzzbomber agreed. "But how? We can't find the Freedom Fighters' Hideout!"

Crabmeat was looking into it. "Wait, I'm getting something on the spy screen!"

Robotnik look and grinned evilly. "Good work, Crabmeat! A group of Non-robots are wandering the edge of the great forest! It could be them!"

The crab robot grumbled a little as the tyrant placed his hands on the monitor to point at the dots. "Tsk! I just cleaned that monitor."

"Come, Buzzbomber! We shall join them… and then **_crush them!_** "

 ** _Meanwhile at the edge of the forest…_**

A cloaked figure was leading the Freedom Fighters to the edge of the forest. "We're almost there. I have a pretty good idea as to where the leak is coming from." He explained.

Sonic sped ahead and stopped him and the others. "Stay back, Gang! The source of the leak may be just ahead…" He looked forward with some concern. "But we're within range of Robotnik's spy satellites…"

"I'll check it out, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed, rushing forward to prove himself, only to be held back by Collin.

Antoine was in agreement that Tails shouldn't go first, but was a little rude about it. The others knew that he was unaware of this however and let it slide. "Don't be fuel-ish, Tails! Only a warrior of my caliber is qualified!"

"As much as I hate any of you getting anywhere near danger, I'm afraid Antoine's correct in the matter, Tails." Collin gently calmed the young fox down.

Sonic took a quick look out there and smirked. "That's why Ant should be the one to go!"

Antoine puffed his chest out and bravely went forward. "Now I shall prove to you that I am no **_Stuffed Shirt_**!"

This only lasted for a few seconds before he splashed into a large puddle of water that was leaking down to Knothole.

Sonic started laughing while the others were surprised. Collin pulled out a towel from his bag that was under his green cloak. "Maybe not…" Sonic laughed harder as the coyote spit out all the water. "But you're still a **_wet blanket_**!"

"You *glub* you set me up, Sonic!" Antoine scowled as Collin helped him out of the puddle and handed him the towel.

"Hehe, sure, but hey, here's your leak, Antsy! This stand of **_weeping willow trees_**!"

"Huh?" Tails looked at the trees with confusion, and sure enough, it seemed as though they were crying!

Collin started to explain as best he could. "Recently, Robotnik bulldozed several acres of forest trying to find Knothole's entrance! The willows have been crying for their fallen friends ever since." Collin gently patted the bark of one tree, as though to console it.

"That's why it's so wet!" Boomer gasped.

"How sad!" Sally felt sympathy for the trees.

Sonic nodded. "I've got an idea…" He looked at the others. "But first, let's get back inside the forest. Out here we're exposed to…"

" ** _Attack!_** " Tails cried in fright.

"Tails, haven't I asked you not to finish my sentences?"

"He's not!" Collin grabbed the fox and started to drag Sally back into the forest with them.

"I'm saying we're under…"

" ** _Attack_** , Buzzbomber!" Robotnik bellowed, shocking the rest of the Freedom Fighters into action.

"Yes, Doctor!"

"First, we'll smash Sonic's friends with my Checker Wrecker Ball!"

Sonic didn't like that and knew just how to distract the fat man. "Aw, c'mon, Robot-nood-nik! I'm the one you want…" Sonic started to rev up his speed. "Or are you too chicken to chase me?" Sonic then started to make chicken sounds.

"Spiny swine! How dare you?! I'll gladly flatten you into a Sonic Pancake!" With a swoosh and a crack, a tall tree fell, nearly on the blue hedgehog.

"Well, well!" Boomer noted which direction the speeding hero and his nemesis had rushed off too. "Well, well, well!" He smirked. "Well, now!"

Sally was confused. "Why do you keep saying that, Boomer?"

Collin sighed as he put Tails down and looked over towards where his cousin had run off to. "Because that's where Sonic's going, Princess… to the well…"

Sonic grinned as he reached the well. "The well where I hid one of my magic rings for just such an occasion!" Sonic reached the well and started to reach in. "It'll give me the power I need to defeat Robotnik! I'll just dip in and…" He didn't feel anything but water! "Oh man! I forgot the rings rise and fall! I can't feel it!"

"Say your prayers, Sonic!" Robotnik laughed as he and Buzzbomber reached him.

"I **_am_** praying!" Sonic started panicking. "For that ring to bubble up… like **_NOW!_** " Sonic gulped as Buzzbomber started counting down. "Otherwise I'm toast!" Suddenly he felt something slightly warm in his hand. "Wait… what's this?" He pulled his hand out and held out a golden magic ring that had already started to imbue him with its power. "I got it!" He held the ring above his head with pride. "Count away, Buzzbomber! 'Cause you and all the other Robots' days are numbered!" Sonic jumped through the ring as the chain ball whirred towards him. "When I jump through the ring like a hula hoop, Robotnik's ball will loop the loop!"

The ball came around and clubbed the fat man on the head and ruined his ship. "My beautiful ship, ruined!" He cried out.

"And you're next, Robotnik!" Robotnik then jumped and used his Buzzbomber to get out of there. "Hey! Come here and take it like a man… er… robot!"

"NO WAY!" The tyrant growled. "Get me out of here, Buzzbomber!"

The winged robot was already having trouble. "Ooooof! That's a **_Tall_** order, boss… or rather… a **_Fat_** order!"

Sonic knew he had to check on his friends and growled. "I'll get you yet, Robotnik!"

 ** _Later…_**

The Freedom Fighters were planting saplings, though Boomer had decided to bury Antoine up to his shoulders while Collin went to get more saplings.

"Sonic, this is a wonderful idea, planting these saplings!" Sally praised. "The willows have already stopped weeping!"

Tails smiled. "He's my idol!"

Boomer chuckled. "Oh **_Saplings!_** I thought he said, ' ** _Plant a sap!"_**

Antoine was not amused, and neither was Collin when he got back and had to dig the younger boy out. Sonic was just supervising. "This supervising is hard work… time for a chili dog break!"


	17. Chapter 17

Run, Sally, Run!

Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails the fox were running through the forest one day, having fun together. "C'mon, Tails… keep up." Sonic chuckled as he looked back. "I'm about to jump into hyper-sonic speed!"

"I'm right behind you, Sonic!"

"GO! **_WHOA!_** " Sonic suddenly screeched to a stop. "There's Princess Sally!" Sally had a determined look on her face.

Tails was coughing up Sonic's dust. "Hey! I can't see! Where am I?"

"Sally?" Sonic called. Sally rarely ignored him. Sonic rushed up to her while Tails slammed into a tree thanks to the dust. "Sally!"

"Hmm? OH, Sonic! I didn't see you!" Sally seemed to have a lot on her mind.

"Oooooooog! Just like I didn't see this maple tree!" Tails groaned as he pealed himself off of the tree.

"I can't stay and chat… I'm in a hurry…" Sally tried to ditch Sonic quick.

"It's none of my business, but you're walking too close to the edge of the Great Forest…"

Sally was starting to get annoyed. "You're right, Sonic…"

"Well, that's because I know the area so well and…"

Sally snapped. "No, I mean you're right that it's **_None of your business!_** " Sally stomped off. "So just get on with what you were doing and **_leave me alone!_** "

"Gee! Princess Sally sure seems crabby!" Tails exclaimed. Ordinarily, the princess would have noticed him and commented on his injury. Today, she was just steaming.

"Yeah, and I'll bet that pompous oaf, Antoine has something to do with it!" Antoine always hung around Sally too much for most people's liking. "C'mon, let's beat feet to the hidden entrance to Knothole!"

"Yeah!" Tails followed as fast as he could run. "Can I swing on the vine that opens the secret stump with you?"

"Sure… I… uh-oh!" Antoine was trying to climb out of the stump and the three crashed into eachother.

Sonic and Antoine argued for a few minutes as Antoine explained that he was going after Sally to stop her from getting herself captured. He handed Sonic the "Royal Proclamation" that proclaimed she was going to Robotropolis to negotiate with Robotnik for her father's freedom.

When the three boys caught up to Sally, she was talking to Buzzbomber. Sonic tried to attack Buzzbomber, thinking she was being attacked, only for Sally to grab his foot and trip him with surprising speed. She got annoyed and explained that she was supposed to meet with Buzzbomber. Buzzbomber then carried the princess away towards the city for her "Meeting".

It was rare for Antoine and Sonic to agree, but Sally's safety was one thing the two agreed on the most along with the safety of those in their care in Knothole. They were about to go after her when a cage suddenly sprung out from the ground trapping Antoine, Tails, and Sonic inside.

Sally was dropped in through a smokestack into the factory where Robotnik was waiting for her. Sally realized she had been tricked as the Swatbots started to drag her to the robot maker machine. "Sonic, HELP!" The princess cried.

"Sonic can't help you now, Princess Sally!" Robotnik laughed as his robots were about to put the princess into the robo-machine.

Suddenly, Sonic spun in, destroying the wall and the two swatbots that were holding Sally! Tails and Antoine snuck in and pickpocketed Robotnik's atomic ray gun. Sonic then destroyed the robo-making machine before sweeping Sally up into her arms. Antoine covered them as they left with Robotnik's own ray gun.

Sally was very annoyed. When they got back to Knothole, it was revealed that she and Boomer had planned out Sally getting Robotosized because she had special boots on that would have analyzed the machine to reverse the affects. Collin walked in at this time. He heard the entire explanation and each of the boys, save for Rotor, leaving in embarrassment. Sally was about to slam the door on them all when Collin grabbed her shoulder. "And just how, might I ask, were you going to get the data back to Boomer if you did happen to get it? Or rather, how would we get you back, Sally? You're the princess; not a soldier we can lose easily, or rather, afford to lose at all."

Sally blinked and had a lot to think about now. Collin didn't often scold her for this kind of thing after all. Maybe she owed those boys an apology…


	18. Chapter 18

Something Fishy

Sonic the hedgehog was sitting on the dock with his cousin, Collin, and the two had their fishing poles out. "This is nice…" Collin smirked under his green hood. "Something simple and normal for a change…"

"Yeah…" Sonic smirked when suddenly his rod was pulling on him. "HOLY Catfish! I just put my line in and I hooked one already! What a fisherma… er… fisherhog!"

"Real it in already!" Collin got excited.

"Wow! It's a big one!" Sonic was too excited to notice his cousin had suddenly frozen at the sight.

"Throw it back!"

"And a Hungry one! Yipes! He's eating my pole!" Collin smacked at it with his own pole, only for the mechanical red fish to start eating the dock! "Now he's eating the dock!"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Collin wasn't in the mood. 'Why is it so hard to have a normal activity? Is this why I just settle for living in my cave and journaling?' He looked around and spotted a set of pipes. "Ugh, he's one of Robotnik's!" There was a pipe pouring pollution into the water. Suddenly the dock started to tip, as the robotic fish had destroyed the support beams. "Wha? SONIC!"

"COLLIN!"

The two fell into the water and slid down an underwater sludge slide. Collin held his breath as the two were knocked back and forth a half dozen times before reaching the bottom of the lake. Sonic pulled his cousin along as they followed the red robotic fish. Sonic used his speed to propel the two of them faster, only for them to end up in a net! Sonic's eyes widened as his grip tightened on his cousin. Collin couldn't see in the murky water and was running out of air fast. The worst part though was that they were on their way to an underwater robotosizer!

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

"This is where Sonic and Collin told us to meet them, Tails!" Rotor smiled as they made their way down to the water.

Tails started to sing a little. "Oh boy, _Sittin' by the dock of the bay…_ Uh-oh!" The two noticed the carnage of the ruined dock. "That's gonna be hard to do!"

"I'll say!"

"There is **_No_** dock! No Sonic or Collin either! Look at this… Sonic's fishing pole, all chewed and mangled…" Tails started to worry as he inspected the broken pole.

Rotor noticed something too. "Here's part of Collin's cloak! Poor guy! He uses this as a type of security blanket sometimes, I swear…" Rotor clenched his fist around the piece of fabric that had been torn off. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Wait here, Tails…" Rotor started off. "I'll be back in two shakes of a sea lion's tail!"

"Huh? What? Where are you going?"

 ** _Exactly two shakes of a sea lion's tail later…_**

Rotor quickly showed back up with a little submarine! "I've been building the bathysphere in the basement with Collin's help for months!" Rotor launched the Submarine into the water and then started to climb in.

"Now that's what I call a **_sub_** -plot!" Tails smiled as he followed.

 ** _And at that moment…_**

The robotic fish, whose name was Jaws, was explaining to the Hedgehog cousins what was going on, though Collin couldn't hear, and he had only just managed to get his eyes opened under the water. Sonic had an easier time snapping back at the fish robot. Sonic realized he and Collin didn't have much air left, and did a Sonic spin to break the net, much to his cousin's horror! Collin swam over to Sonic and held him up somewhat as the hedgehog realized that he was out of air because he had done that.

The robotic fish started taunting them as Collin tried to think. Jaws tried to get closer and managed to knock Collin against a wall, causing him to also be out of air. As his vision started to fade, he saw Jaws coming close to biting Sonic's neck. Collin reached a hand out to try and do anything, but he was out of energy. Just after he passed out, an explosion happened! A torpedo had hit Jaws!

"Back off, Baitbreath! Nobody puts the bite on my buddies!" Rotor growled from inside of his sub. Sonic managed to regain consciousness as the air bubbles made from the torpedo gave him much needed oxygen.

"Did you order a **_Submarine_** Sandwich?" Tails joked before noticing Collin was still unconscious against the cave wall. "Oh no! Collin!"

Rotor made his way to the back of the sub where he had an airlock installed. He swam out just as Sonic came over with Collin. "Thanks for saving our bacon, guys! Take care of him!" Sonic gave a quick look over his unconscious cousin.

Rotor checked under his hood to see his face since Tails couldn't see from where he was. He didn't look too bad, but he desperately needed oxygen. "I've got him, but are you okay?"

"I'll be fine once I gulp some more of those air bubbles your torpedo made." Sonic swam around and gulped up enough to destroy the waterproof robot maker. Jaws fled back to Robotnik with his broken propeller. Rotor took Collin inside and made him cough up all the water he had in him before having him on an oxygen tank. He was relieved when the smaller creature started to breathe again.

 ** _Soon…_**

Collin found himself waking up on the surface, on land, and leaned up against a tree while Sonic, Rotor, and Tails were eating chili dogs while playing cards. Collin slowly picked himself up and made his way over. "I think this is probably the only fishing we're going to do for a while, Cousin Collin." Sonic grimaced as he handed Collin a plain old hot dog. Collin had never truly been big on Chili Dogs.

Collin smirked as he understood the blue hedgehog to be referring to the game. "Sounds good to me… I think I'll stick with safer hobbies such as fighting Robotnik's bots on the surface though." The four boys laughed. It had been quite the eventful afternoon.


	19. Chapter 19

A Crowning Achievement Part 1

Princess Sally called upon Sonic from within her cavernous home in their underground city of Knothole. "Sonic, I have something important to tell you!"

Sonic smirked. "You mean the reason why you changed from a blonde to a brunette?" Sonic asked, reminding her of her earlier days as a princess when she had been naturally blonde. No one had seen her blonde in a while though.

Sally rolled her eyes. "No, wiseguy! Just wait there!" Sally turned back into her hole and picked up a chest with her family crest, an acorn, on it. 'I wonder if he likes me better as a brunette… or maybe I should go as a redhead?'

Sonic was thinking along similar lines. 'I'd never tell her, but I **_love_** her hair dark!'

"Catch!" Sally tossed the chest out to Sonic, who caught it.

"Yooof! What's this? A jewelry box?"

"Not just any jewelry box… it's my father's!" Sally explained as she exited her hole that was her room.

Sonic gasped, his eyes wide. "You mean…"

"YES! In that box is the magic crown of the Acorn Kings! It should be on my father's head, but since he was kidnapped by Robotnik, I've decided to wear it! Maybe it's magic powers will help us find him and free him!" Sally explained as they walked.

"Too cool! I'm holding the Freedom Emeralds!" Sonic grinned.

"Yes, the four Freedom Emeralds! The mystical gems that sit atop the crown! Their power is awesome!"

"I'll say! The Freedom Emerald's Magic is part of what keeps Robotnik's reign of terror at bay!"

Sally looked confused at this. "What do you mean it's only part?"

"Collin says he knows another magic thing nearby that helps. He won't tell me what it is though."

"Oh…" Sally pondered on this.

"Gee… imagine if the emeralds fell into the wrong hands!"

Sally smirked at this. "Don't worry…" The two came into the main throne room where Antoine and his Royal Guards were at attention. "Antoine D'Coolette's royal guard keeps a constant watch on them." Sonic nodded. "Okay, I'm ready for the coronation… crown me, Sonic."

Sonic opened the box to do just that, only to find, much to his horror, that it was empty. "The box… it's empty! The crown… it's **_GONE!_** "

Antoine and Sally looked in the box with shock. "Gone! Oh, **_No!_** "

"Impossible! I personally trained each one of the royal guards!"

"That explains a lot…" Sonic grumbled.

The two were fighting when Collin returned from one of his trips with a wagon full of books. "Do I want to know what it is this time?" He usually left for a few days if he had been assured there would be no need of him, and would return with scraps for himself and Rotor to work with, along with a slew of old books for everyone to read, mostly scholarly stuff to make up for the lack of a real school.

Sally looked over to him with tears in her blue eyes. "The Freedom Emeralds and my father's crown is missing! The royal guards were guarding it!" Antoine and Sonic were still arguing, getting on each other's tempers. "How could it go missing?"

Collin frowned under his hood. "I swear, I left for five days and this happens." Shaking his head, he went down to inspect the "Guard" after leaving the books under a tarp on his wagon. He inspected each soldier in line with a critical eye and murmured something under his breath each time. It only did something when he came upon the pig. The pig twitched! Collin had it. "SONIC!" The blue hedgehog stopped arguing long enough to look at his cousin, who he just noticed had returned. "These soldiers could use a drink. Boys, keep an eye on each other." Collin backed away as Sonic got the idea and started running in circles around the guard, causing a slight fire trail. Suddenly the smoke detectors that had been installed in the caves went off and the sprinkler system started to drench them all. Collin smirked dangerously under the hood. "Gotcha!"

The pig soldier was spluttering and creaking as water rusted him. Collin's smirk turned to fear as his mind rounded on what was happening. Sally and the others came down and glared at it. "Tell us everything you know, Robot!"

"I know you are *bzzzt!* all goners!" The pig started to turn purple as his eyes started to go all swirly. "I've given the Freedom Emeralds to my Master, Dr. Robotnik! He's scattered them to the four corners of Mobius!"

"Thanks to zis Turncoat, he knows where Knothole is!" Antoine growled.

"Not to worry, mon Capitan!" The robot mocked. "That was the one thing I didn't give him due to someone's security codes in the area messing with me. It won't matter though. It won't be here much longer!" The pig started to smoke.

"Scrap-metal!" Collin pulled his friends back.

"He looks angry enough to explode!" Sally noticed.

"That's because he initiated his self-destruct mechanism!" Collin explained as he pulled Sally and Antoine back, and indicated for the guard to back up too. "Sonic, back away, maybe…"

"No maybes, Collin, he's gonna blow big!" Sonic picked up the pig-bot and started to run. "Gangway, everybody!" Sonic cried out as he ran faster than anyone had seen him go before.

"SONIC!" Collin and Sally cried out as they heard a large " ** _KABOOM!"_** go off in the caverns.

"Sacre bleu cheese!" Antoine gasped as his toupee flew off.

Collin was frozen. Had he truly just lost his cousin, his last real family member? "Sonic?" His voice quiet and cracked as he looked down the caverns, hoping to see something… anything…

Part 2

Sally had broken down crying on Antoine's shoulder. "Sonic the Hedgehog is **_DEAD!_** " She sobbed. "And I… I never got to tell him that…" She hiccupped. "That I luh…luh…loved…"

Antoine suddenly heard something while Collin was staring at the ground and his princess' eyes were closed and filled with tears. "Princess Sally, Uncle Collin, Look!"

"Hush, Ant! Let her finish what she's saying!" Collin's head whipped up so fast his hood nearly came off as he saw his cousin, cocky as ever and perfectly fine! Collin gave off a huff of a laugh to show his relief.

Sally also whipped her head up. "Huh? Who… **_SONIC!_** You're okay! I… uh… I was just saying how I… err… ** _loved_** … your recipe for pumpkin pie!" Sally bumbled along as she blushed heavily.

"Mmm-hmmm!" Sonic smirked, mentally laughing at the lame excuse.

Collin was just clutching his chest, having nearly had a heart attack. Antoine was also in shock, but less so than Collin. "Never mind that! How did you avoid getting blown up?"

"Warp Sonic Speed, Antoine! I zoomed that robot up through one of the entrances to Knothole in record time… just before he went Ka-blooey!" Sonic explained.

"Good work, Sonic! You saved our village! Our fight against Robotnik can continue!" Sally smiled, having gotten over her shock.

"Yes, but we must act quickly and recover the Freedom Emeralds or all will be lost!" Antoine pointed out.

Collin just sat down. He had nearly seen his cousin die, and yet these kids were still up for going into dangerous situations, and sending his cousin along with them. 'Breathe… breathe… this is the way life is for us… for them… they don't know any better than I do, honestly…'

Sonic nodded and thought about something. "You're right! And I saw something very unusual up above…" Sonic recalled what he had seen. "A Robotnik Blimp with an escort of Buzzbombers and Bat Brains!"

"That's it! Robotnik must be taking the emeralds to a secret location!" Sally gasped.

Collin curled in upon himself as he struggled to regain his composure. Antoine and Sonic were already revving to go be heroes. "This is a job for the bravest Freedom Fighter of all!" Antoine exclaimed, talking about himself, though he shouldn't have been, really.

Sonic took it to mean that he was being addressed. "Right! Stand back…"

" ** _Wrong!_** This is a job for both of you together!"

 ** _"WHAT!_** " The boys asked with confusion. Collin looked up at them with slight relief. Sonic having backup might help him be safer.

"This mission is too dangerous and important for one! As commander of the Freedom Fighters, I'm ordering you two to co-operate, got it?"

The two soldiers grumbled. "Yes, your highness!"

 ** _Soon…_**

The two boys were up in a hot air balloon in record time. Sally was impressed while Collin had just settled for calming himself down by putting all of the books he had brought in the library or in his own personal room.

Sally looked at the balloon as it lifted off the ground. "Wow! How'd you get my hot air balloon inflated so fast?"

"Easy," Sonic called down. "I just asked Ant to tell me about the proper way to clean his uniform and to describe the different sword attacks he does…"

"…and so then to parry you must…" Antoine kept going on and on about the different ways to use a sword, unaware that he was already twenty feet up and that Sonic had been mocking him again. In his mind, he was just grateful for Sonic showing some interest in his knowledge, though the blue ten year old held no real interest in it.

Soon enough, the duo was high enough that they could properly see the blimp. It was red and had a stupid mustache on it for no apparent reason. "Okay, Ants! We're high enough to see Robotnik's blimp…"

Antoine agreed and immediately spotted a problem. "Oui… there's just one problem…"

Sonic noticed the same problem as the robots came at their balloon. "You mean if we can see them, they can see us?"

"Exactly! We're under attack!"

A loud " ** _POW!_** " occurred, startling the two. "YIPE! The Buzzbombers and Bat Brains burst our Balloon!" Sonic realized as Antoine started to put on his parachute.

"Look out below!" He turned to Sonic. "Grab your parachute and bail out, Sonic!"

"You go ahead, Antoine…" Sonic said as he pushed his friend out of harms way. "I've got another idea…" Sonic jumped into a Sonic Spin and homed in on each of the robots. "By going into a Sonic spin…" Sonic went from robot to robot while Antoine pulled his chute and descended below the blimp slowly. "I can leap from robot to robot, destroying them while I close in on the blimp…" Sonic then spin dashed right through the blimp, destroying it. "What's good for the goose is worth a gander at!"

Sonic then started to free fall. Antoine adjusted his descent so that he could catch his friend. "Grab hold, Sonic!" He reached out his hands and managed to catch the hedgehog.

Sonic smiled. "Nice catch, Ant!"

It was a rare moment when the two would actually be able to say they were friends and not just allies. "Look a Swatbot!" Antoine indicated to the falling robot just behind Sonic.

"He must've been the automatic pilot!"

"Something bright and shiny popped out when he crashed!"

Sonic's eyes widened as they locked onto the green glowing orb. "Could it be?" They were close enough to the ground that Sonic let go of Antoine and jumped down to grab it. "YES! It's one of the Freedom Emeralds!"

Antoine landed and started to pack away his chute when he noticed the damaged bot was trying to say something. "Listen! The damaged swatbot may tell us something…"

The head of the bot buzzed for a moment before speaking. "Must carry out Master's plan…scatter Freedom Emeralds…*crackle* Air-land-sea-underground!"

Sonic looked at the gem in hand. "Aha! That's his plan! To separate the gems so their magic can't affect his dream of a mechanical world!"

"What are we going to do?" Antoine asked curiously, not having much experience in this sort of situation.

Sonic closed his eyes and made a decision. " ** _We're_** not doing anything! **_You're_** taking this emerald back to Princess Sally!" Sonic tossed the emerald to Antoine.

Antoine was shocked. Sonic rarely trusted him with anything, and never anything this important before. "But she told us to stay together!"

"That was before we knew what Robotnik was up to! Bring her this stone… she'll put its magic to good use!" Sonic grimaced. Truthfully, he trusted Antoine, he was just always worried for the more timid boy. This was something that Antoine could handle though, he was sure.

Antoine nodded as he held the emerald. "You're right." He hated saying that, especially when it concerned him admitting Sonic was correct.

Sonic then started off. "Meanwhile, I'll take off at hyper-sonic speed and try to find the next Freedom Emerald! Hmm… we got the "Air" rock… that leaves land, sea, and underground!"

Antoine was left coughing in the dust. "Good luck!" He managed a salute before heading back to his princess with one of her jewels.

Part 3

Tails was sitting at the Ol' Fishin' Hole, seeing if he could catch anything since he hadn't been able to go fishing with Collin and Sonic last time. Tails looked up to see Sonic dashing into the water. "Sonic the hedgehog! My hero!"

"Hiya, Tails! Sorry I can't stay and chat, but I'm going on an underwater mission…" Sonic didn't realize he got one of his legs tangled up in Tails' fishing line!

"WHOA!" Sonic had already dived in and now Tails was being pulled along! "It looks like I'm going too… like it or not!"

"Gotta use my sub-sonic speed to reach that cavern I was in last month!" Sonic went as fast as he could, being a Mobian, he needed less oxygen than a human, and could speak and see underwater with less problem than a human would. "Ah, there it is! Now I'll…" Sonic then noticed he had a wire around his foot. "What the heck is on my foot?" He followed his gaze up and saw, to his surprise, Tails and his fishing pole were on the other end! "Tails! What are you doing down here?"

"Just **_stringing_** along, Sonic!" Tails liked jokes a lot.

"You can't do that! This is dangerous!" Sonic tried to explain.

Suddenly, a red robotic fish with sharp teeth just tried to take a bite out of them. "YIPE! You can say that again!"

"Jaws!" Sonic gasped as he recognized the terror that had tried to kill him and his cousin last month.

"Who?" Tails didn't recognize the name, not having gotten it last time.

" ** _Jaws,_** " Sonic grabbed Tails and pulled him along out of the way. "The mechanical shark…" They headed towards the cave. "One of Robotnik's baddest Badniks! C'mon, duck into this cavern with me! I'll bet this is where they hid the Freedom Emerald!"

"WHAT!" Tails was shocked. He had heard of the emerald, but had never seen it. "You mean one of **_the_** Freedom Emeralds from King Acorn's crown?"

"I sure do…" Sonic nodded as he noticed the orb on a pedestal. "And there it is!" Sonic grabbed it. "That's two down and two to go!"

"Uh, oh…" Tails noticed something. "Here comes Jaws…"

The red fish chortled as it spotted the two Freedom Fighters up against a wall. "Got you cornered now!" He started to zoom towards them. "And no one gets out alive!" The robot bashed himself into what he thought was Sonic, only to find it was a drawing of the hedgehog and fox on the wall of the caves! "Egad… the oldest trick in the book! It's a drawing of them on the wall…ooooogah!"

"A **_drawing_**? I'd call it a **_quick_** sketch…" Sonic chuckled as the real duo swam away. " ** _Real_** quick!"

Tails smiled as he put away a marker into his sock. "Good thing I always carry a waterproof marker!"

Jaws groaned. "I should've noticed they only had four fingers…" As unlike most Mobians; Tails, Sonic, and Collin were the only Freedom Fighters to have five fingers!

Part 4

Back on the surface, Sonic and Tails shook themselves dry before Sonic handed Tails the emerald. "You get that Freedom Emerald to Princess Sally, Tails! I'm going after the other two!"

"Aye, aye, fellow Freedom Fighter!" Tails saluted, happy to be treated like an actual Freedom Fighter for once.

Unknown to the two, a Swatbot was hiding nearby. "Sonic the Hedgehog approaching, Master!"

"Very well! Initiate plan 426!" Came the voice of Dr. Robotnik from his wrist.

The swatbot then started to move slowly as though shorting out. "Must hide emerald from Hedgehog…*click*… from hedgehog *click* from hedgehog…" it glitched repetitively.

Sonic noticed the bot with the emerald and grinned. "What luck! The swatbot carrying that emerald has a short circuit!" Sonic came up and snatched the emerald. "Yo, Rustpot… your needle's stuck!"

To his surprise, the robot spun around, perfectly fine as a hole opened up underneath Sonic! "Yo, Blueboy… you're out of luck!"

"YEOW!" Sonic fell through the hole. "Holy mole hole! I'm falling into a bottomless pit!" The ground decided to correct him. **_"Ooof!_** Not quite bottomless! Does Collin know he has neighbors?"

"I'll take that emerald, Hedgehog! It matches my other one!" A burrobot said as it grabbed the emerald.

Sonic gasped. "The Burrobot!"

"So, you've heard of me! Let me show you what I can do!" It zoomed forward, drilling its drill nose into a wall as Sonic jumped out of the way at the last minute. "I already know! You can bore thru anything… including me!" Sonic started running. The Burrobot was in his element! "Man! He's nasty! I'm living on **_Burrowed_** time down here… I'd better juice!" Much to his surprise, the robot came out ahead of him through the wall! " ** _WHOA_**! He cut me off!"

"And now I'll cut your limbs off!" Sonic didn't like that and spun circles around that bot, causing it to get dizzy and fall over. "Not if I can help it, Needle-nose! Why don't you go for a spin? I'll hold these emeralds for you!" Sonic grabbed the emeralds and ran.

The Burrobot managed to say one last thing before passing out. "Someone has to say it eventually… **_How can anything so_ pig _move so fast?_** "

 ** _Much Later…_**

Sonic was wearing down, having become lost in the catacombs. "I've been running through these catacombs for hours! I'm so exhausted, I don't know which way is up!" Sonic snapped as an idea came to him. "What am I saying? That's the answer… UP!" Sonic started to do a Sonic Spin. "This is gonna require the most powerful Sonic Spin I ever tried…" Using every ounce of his strength, Sonic tunneled upwards until he popped thru the floor of Boomer's shop!

"SONIC!" Antoine, Sally, Tails, Collin, and Rotor exclaimed in surprise as he came through.

"You're emeralds, Princess Sally!" Sonic smiled as he handed them over. Collin started to patch up the hole with a smirk on his face.

"How can I…er … we ever thank you enough?" Sally asked as she accepted the emeralds and gave them to Boomer to place on her crown.

Soon the ancient crown was repaired. "Behold the ancient Mystical Crown of the Acorn Kings!" Boomer said with a bit of pride. "May I, your majesty?"

"Please do…" Sally smiled as Boomer put the crown on her head. Collin took a picture for his scrapbooks later. "The Freedom Emeralds are back where they belong! And while I rule, their magic will be used to destroy Robotnik's machinery and return Mobius to the beautiful planet it was!" Everyone cheered at this declaration.

While the others were celebrating another victory against the tyrant, Collin had snuck away to his room, one of the caves closer to the surface. In the cave was a small slit of a window that gave a little sunlight to an area of ground that had a strange berry bush growing in the middle of it. Collin smiled calmly as he tended this bush, picking the sparkling red berries from it, and giving it the water it required before he himself took a nap on his nearby simple bed made of leaves. He may or may not have been aware of the glowing field of safety and comfort that surrounded the village pulsing after he had tended to the bush that seemed to be growing over a secret pocket of golden magic that was hidden in the ground. All that was certain, was that another day, another fight, and Collin always felt better after tending to the bush. He took care of it… and it took care of them… Just like it had always taken care of him…


	20. Chapter 20: Uncle Chuck's Treasure

Part 1

"Sonic the hedgehog, wanna try out this seesaw? I made it myself!" Tails exclaimed as he sat on his simple seesaw he had made out of wood.

Collin looked at it with slight surprise, and Sonic smiled. "Cool, Tails! That's the first **_seesaw_** I've **_seen_** since we **_saw_** evil Robotnik outlaw fun and games!" The blue hedgehog smiled as he inspected it.

His cousin, Collin Hedgehog was in his casual green cloak which always hid his face underneath, as well as most of his body, save for his hands, and his bright blue eyes.

Rotor also noticed the seesaw and couldn't help himself. "OH, **_WOW_**! A **_Seesaw!_** Can **_I_** have a ride?" He asked just before jumping on.

"Uh-oh!" Sally exclaimed as she quickly put together what was about to happen.

Unfortunately for Tails, he was sprung up into the roof of cavern they were in by the overexcited walrus! "Mmf! Mmph!"

Collin looked up with a grimace as he pulled his medical kit from his satchel that he now carried everywhere. It was made of dried leaves and surprisingly was really durable. Rotor gulped and looked up. "Sorry Tails! I guess I forgot how these things work!" Tails managed to pop himself out of the hole he had made, but had ended up too dizzy for him to catch himself with his tails. They were in one of the larger chambers underground that had to be at least twenty feet up. "I'll catch you, Tails!" Rotor cried as he started to run in a circle to figure out where the fox was going to land.

Instead Sonic managed to catch him while a scroll had landed on Rotor's head. "Gotcha!"

"Thanks, Sonic!" Tails smiled as he hugged his big brother.

Collin walked over to the scroll that had fallen. "Huh, I guess that ceiling is closer to the surface than I had guessed." He looked up to the ceiling, careful to keep his hood on. "Then again, when I measured out these caves I was about Tails size…" He chuckled a little. He opened the scroll. "Huh… for a fellow with perfect memory, it seems I had almost forgotten about that… maybe the perfect memory thing only applies to certain events…" Collin shrugged. 'If so, that's… really depressing which events it remembers…'

Rotor looked over the short fellow's shoulder and grinned. "Oh boy! Connect the dots!"

Sonic zoomed over. "No, Rotor, it's a map showing where my Uncle Chuck buried his most important treasure!" Sonic was excited. Collin knew what was at the end of this map and handed it over to his overexcited cousin.

Rotor wasn't too happy after he found that out. "A treasure? **_Big Deal!_** "

Sally and Tails agreed. "Since Robotnik took over our planet, money has no value!" The princess pointed out.

"Yeah! Now lots of things are **_worth more_** … like chewed up gum, rusty paper clips, peanut shells, dirt…" Tails listed.

Collin even added in his two cents. "My scrap book collection and journals are about as important as what you'll find at the end of this map, Sonic."

"You're all forgetting that Uncle Chuck was our greatest inventor…" Sonic pointed out.

"Sonic, I am well aware of what my dad's job was, and I am also well aware of what's at the end of that map."

Sonic ignored his cousin, still trying to get the others on board. "His treasure could be something magical that will give us the power to **_Defeat Robotnik_** once and for all!"

Collin raised his hands in the air and walked off in **_Defeat_** himself. "That's it, go on then, have fun. I'll be in my scrapbooks when you get back. Heck, bring back what's in the box and I'll put it in the memory room." Collin had a memory room full of "Firsts" for the freedom fighters and some of the other youths in Knothole, as he had taken it upon himself to have memorabilia to describe the children's' lives away from their parents until they could rescue said souls. The scrapbooks he had were only for the Freedom Fighters though, as the other children were cared for by the actual adults. Collin was the closest thing that Sonic and Tails ever really listened to though. Collin's journal collection was a large amount of diaries to put it simply, as he wrote down everything that happened to him, if only to be sure he had as good memory as he thought he did, and for anyone else to use should they need to know something and he wasn't there to tell them it.

 ** _Soon…_**

Tails, Rotor, Sonic, and Sally started hiking off towards the Mobius Natural Park… or what was left of it… Sonic was leading the way with the map in hand, not bothered that his cousin hadn't joined in on the fun. "According to this map, the treasure is buried in the middle of Mobius Natural Park!"

"Be on your guard, Freedom Fighters!" Sally warned. "If Robotnik or his badniks spot us, **_we'll_** be the buried treasure!"

"That's a chance we have to take, Sally!" Sonic scowled. 'She's sounding like Antoine, she must be worried.'

Tails spotted the sign that pointed out where they were. "We're here, Dudes! I can't wait to roll in the grass, smell the exotic flowers, swim in the Crystal lake, and…" Tails' dreams were crushed horribly upon inspection of the natural park. "YAAAAAAAA!"

Sally was heart-broken. She had loved this park as a child, having come to it with her father. "Wh-what happened to the natural park?"

"It looks more like a **_Supernatural park!_ " **Rotor pointed out as they eyed the eerie looking dead trees and crud filled river.

Sonic scowled, remembering Collin having to save him from swimming in that river when Robotnik had taken over. "Robotnik's been using it as a **_dumping_** site for his **_raw sewage and toxic wastes!_** "

Tails looked at the park with despair. "Now we'll never find the treasure!"

Unknown to the Freedom Fighters, two swatbots were hiding nearby. "Did you hear that, X-369? The Freedom Fighters are searching for a treasure!"

"Our Master Robotnik will reward us for this information, x-448! He may even treat us less nasty than usual!"

Sonic sounded the charge as he led his friends into the remnants of the park. "We can't allow Robotnik's pollutants to **_stop_** us…" He growled, ignoring the logical part of his mind that usually sounded like Collin trying to talk him out of dangerous stunts like this. "C'mon, Gang!"

 ** _Later…_**

"…next we walk six paces past the evergreen tree…" Sonic looked up from the map with a saddened glance. "Which is now a **_Never-_** green tree… then ten paces past what used to be paradise pond…" Sonic grimaced at the disgusting brown sludge puddle in front of him. "and is now Pesticide puddle."

Sally started to cough, feeling sick from all the chemicals. "These chemicals are getting to me, Sonic." She groaned, holding her stomach.

Sonic was starting to feel bad for his friends, having more immunity due to the magic rings he was always collecting and absorbing. "I'll finish following the map, Sally." He started running, "At Super Sonic Speed!" He ended not too far away and grinned as he spotted a large "X" in the ground. "All **_Right_** , the **_X_** is still here! Let's start digging!"

Tails noticed something unique at that moment. "Check it out, guys! A single flower managed to survive the pollution!" He pointed to the tiny purple flower before it was blasted from existance!

The group looked up to see Robotnik and some of his badniks! "Thank you for finding your Uncle's treasure for me, Sonic! To show my appreciation, I'm going to capture you all and **_turn you_** into **_Robots…_** just like **_Uncle Chuck!_** "

Sonic managed to grab Tails and got the gang to start running. Rotor did what usually happened to him and Sonic when they were worried; he made jokes. "I think he's trying to pin the **_Blam_** on us!" He shouted as he dodged a blast from Robotnik's blaster.

"Our best chance is to run in different directions!" Sally called out to her team.

Sonic agreed as they split up. "Good idea, Princess!"

Robotnik noticed the four change directions and grinned. "They're separating! **_Splendid!_** It will be even more fun hunting them down one by one!" He looked at his bots and gave a dark smile. "Ready? Get set… **_CHARGE!_** "

Part 2

Robotnik was only five feet away from the tree stump that Sonic was hiding in, unaware of how close his quarry was. "You can't hide forever! Since you're not a robot, eventually, the **_Pollution_** will **_destroy you! Har! Har! Har! Har!_** " Robotnik laughed maniacally.

Sonic was starting to feel weakened as well from the overexposure to the toxins in the area. "I hate to admit it, but Robotnik is right! None of us Freedom Fighters will last long in this toxic environment!" He noticed the fat man go off in another direction. "Unless I can find a way to make this wasteland **_for_** us instead of **_against_** us!" He muttered as he thought of something his cousin had suggested. 'Use your enemies strengths against them,' Sonic jumped out of hiding and started running. "Before it's too late!"

Sonic found Tails first, the youngest Freedom Fighter being too ill to fly at the moment. He was being chased by a Burrobot! "Surrender… or you'll feel the drill of **_Burrobot!_** " The tunneling robot exclaimed as it's drill nose started whirring.

Tails was so dizzy all he could do was gulp. "Sounds like a **_drilling_** experience!"

Sonic noticed this and had an idea. "YO! Burrobot! Is that your nose…" The burrobot noticed Sonic and started going after him now, heedless of what was behind the blue hedgehog. "…or did somebody smash an ice cream cone in your face?"

"I'll show you, Hedgehog!"

"Going up!" Sonic jumped out of the way while the robot smashed his drill nose into a can of acid! "You shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't **_belong…_** 'cause it won't **_be long_** anymore!" Sonic chuckled before running off to the sound of Rotor Walrus calling out for help.

" ** _HALP!_** " the walrus cried as the two swatbots had grabbed him and were carrying him off. "Honest guys, I'll make a lousy robot! I rust easily!" Rotor tried.

The robots weren't buying it. "Too bad, Walrus! Tusk! Tusk!" They mocked.

Sonic hid by some rocks nearby. "Now to do my best imitation of Robotnik!" He whispered. He took a deep breath and bellowed. "YOU TIN PLATED TWITS! PUT DOWN THE WALRUS AND MARCH TO THE RIGHT **_NOW_**!" He sounded exactly like Robotnik!

"As you command, Master Robotnik!" Rotor was unceremoniously dropped to the ground in shock as the bots marched and got themselves stuck in a goop of some sort! "We appear to be stuck in a puddle of Toxic **_Ooze_**!" One stated as he tried to unstick himself.

" ** _Ooze_** responsible for this?" The other cried out.

"That's **_Swat_** you get, Swatbots!" Sonic chuckled as he raced to save the last of the team. Sonic made his way over to where Sally was and got angry. "Uh-oh! The Buzzbomber has Sally trapped on a ledge!"

"There she is! I've got her now!" The wasp like robot buzzed as it came after the young pre-teen princess.

Sally was huffing as she ran out of breathe. The toxins were messing with her the most. "I can't run anymore! I'm totally exhausted!" She panted as she looked at the robot that would surely be her end.

Sonic beat the Buzzbomber to Sally. "Hang on, Sally!"

"I can't go any further, Sonic!" She panted as he dragged her a little farther.

"You don't have to!" Sonic assured her as they stopped in front of an oil can sitting on the mountain of waste. "HEY Buzzbomber! Your family tree has **_hives_**!" Sonic taunted.

As dumb of a taunt it was from the pre-teen hero, it worked. "I'll get you for that, Hedgehog!" The Buzzbomber smashed into the mountain as Sonic led Sally down an oil spill to escape.

"Whee!" Sonic laughed. "It was mighty slick of me to use this oil spill to escape!" The two landed into a pool of oil with a splat. "I knew that Buzzbomber couldn't take a little **_Needling_**!" Sonic looked around as he helped the princess up. "I don't see Robotnik anywhere, Sally! Let's find the others and dig up the treasure!"

 ** _Soon…_**

"I can't believe it! There really is a treasure!" Rotor exclaimed as they finished digging out the treasure chest.

Tails was hyped up. "It's so exciting!"

"You earned this treasure, Sonic! Fighting off the badniks was a great **_Feat!_** " Sally praised.

"Thanks, Sally." Sonic then thought about what she had said and all of Collin's grumbling from earlier. " ** _Wait!_** Did you just say **_'Feat'?_** "

Suddenly, Robotnik swung by on one of his flying machines and netted the chest. "Surprise! This is what I meant by a **_Net_** gain! **_Haw! Haw!_** "

Rotor started shouting and jumping up and down angrily. "Give us back our treasure, Robotnik!"

Sonic had a smirk on his face when he finally figured out what was in the chest. Sally was concerned. "Aren't you going to try to get it back, Sonic?"

"Nah! I'm just not as sentimental as Uncle Chuck and Cousin Collin, Sally."

"Huh?" Tails and Rotor were confused.

Sonic started to snicker. "When Sally said the word ' ** _Feat'_** I finally remembered what dear old Uncle Chuck thought of as his treasure! Collin's gonna give me a hard time for taking so long to figure it out though, hehe." Sonic sniffled a little and wiped a tear away. "Let's get back to Knothole Village, gang! We don't wanna be around when Robotnik opens that chest!" Sonic smirked as he led his friends home.

 ** _While back in Robotropolis…_**

Robotnik was throwing a fit as he had found out what Collin had known all along was in the box. The badniks were nervously hiding from their creator. "I suggest we stay out of his way for a few days… until he calms down…"

"…or he'll destroy us all!"

"Tsk! Tsk! Such a fuss over a pair of Sonic the Hedgehog's Bronzed **_baby shoes!_** "

"Another de- ** _feet_** at the **_hands_** of Sonic!"

 ** _Later at Knothole…_**

Collin was finishing up giving out anti-radiation and anti-poison medicine to the Freedom Fighters. "For goodness sakes, if I had thought you all didn't have the sense to stay away, I would have gone after you." The cloaked figure scolded. "I mean, by Aurora!" Aurora was a deity of light for the world of Mobius. Legend had it that she would change form for whomever she talked to, if she deigned them worthy to talk to that is. "You could have been killed,"

"That could happen anytime, Collin." Sonic mumbled only to receive a slight smack behind an ear.

"Not helping your case, Sonic Hedgehog." Collin turned his back on the kids to look over the results of some tests he had run on them. "You all are lucky. None of you seem too severe. Sally, I'm going to give you some medicine for your stomach, then you should take your daily anti-radiation bath. You probably made your fur stuck like that longer now... Tails, you are to go to bed early and drink plenty of clean water. Sonic, there's still oil in your quills. And Rotor…" He turned back to his biggest patient. "I think you're fine, but you can double check with Dr. Quack if you don't think my analysis is good enough."

"I think I'll just go to bed early, Uncle Collin." The purple walrus grimaced. "Sorry for the scare."

The other three nodded and apologized as well. "Yeah, sorry, Uncle Collin."

"We'll be more careful, Collin."

"Sorry, Cuz."

Collin sighed. "A pair of bronzed shoes were not worth all that." He shook his head. "I'm sorry for losing my temper, but…" Collin didn't want to lose anyone else. He didn't think he could handle that. "Please… think before acting… please…" With that, Collin went and got the medicine needed.

After taking her medicine and cleaning the rest of the oil out of her hair, Sally went to look for Collin. She found him in his room with his hood off for probably the first time in forever. His face hidden as he slept on the table and his arms covered his face while his cloak was on a hook. On the table was a journal that had the day's events, and a few scrap books. Collin had been looking into his own and had a picture of him with a young boy who looked somewhat familiar to the princess, but she couldn't place it. Collin actually looked happy in it too!

The boy next to Collin was wearing fancy clothes and seemed to be a ground squirrel, just like her! On the bottom of the picture was the caption of "Best Friends Forever, Collin H. and Elias A." Sally didn't even know any of Collin's friends before the war. She felt bad as she looked at another picture of Collin holding Baby Miles with the caption of "I'm not even old enough to Babysit!" under it. Collin had been the boy's main care taker when Rosie was busy taking care of her and the other children. Collin had taken it upon himself to take care of Sonic Hedgehog and Miles Prower, whose nickname was Tails now for obvious reasons.

What truly went on in the mind of the genius under that cloak? It was the day that Miles was born upon which the entire city was captured by Robotnik. Collin had taken the initiative to round up as many as he could and rescue them. While he couldn't save the Prowers, he had managed to save their son, Miles, and smuggled him and a lot of others to Knothole. He never took credit though, only gave it. In this, he was the exact opposite of Robotnik, who would only claim the credit for the work of others. Geniuses came in all types she guessed.

Sally slowly draped Collin's blanket over the sleeping teen and ruffled his thick spiky brown hair lightly. He moaned a little at the touch and readjusted his sleeping position after rubbing his own hand through his hair. Sally gave a small smile. She knew just as well as the others that Collin was their go to, despite how many adults had actually made it out with them. Collin was as much a Freedom Fighter as she and Sonic, even if they tended to forget it sometimes.


	21. Chapter 21

Sorceress in Distress

It was mid fall and everyone in Knothole was celebrating their favorite holiday of the season, or at least, one of them. It was Fright Night, and everyone was dressed up in scary costumes for the party. The only exception to this rule was the one person who never went to Fright Night; Collin. Collin always opted to just spend the day alone, often outside of Knothole for some reason.

"Sonic, we've all got our costumes for the annual **_Fright Night_** Party!" Rotor Walrus exclaimed as he adjusted his carboard costume over his usual tool belt. "I'm dressed as a **_Bad Report Card!_** " He grinned, holding up the front that showed grades so bad your mother would die of embarrassment. (Whoever heard of a Z+ in music?... okay, so maybe Robotnik…)

Tails smiled as he held his mask in hand, already in the rest of his costume. "Pretty scary, Rotor! I'm a two-tailed Skunk!"

Sally sighed as she adjusted her dress. "I'm an evil sorceress, but my costume won't be complete until I find a **_stick_** to use as my magic staff!"

Collin was in his usual green cloak and was about to head out when he heard this, and what was to follow. Antoine, in his little devil costume, offered to assist. "For your protection, I will accompany you in the forest, Princess Sally!"

Sally glared. "Forget it, Antoine! I'm tired of you and Sonic acting as my **_Bodyguards!_** I can look after myself!" She started to storm off.

"But Princess, think of the **_Danger_** if you run into that fiend, Robotnik, or one of his Swatbots!" Antoine tried to get her to see reason.

"That's nothing compared to the danger you two will be in if I catch you babysitting me!" Sally growled as she marched off, adjusting her pointy hat. " ** _Back off!_** That's an order!"

Sonic was about to sneak off after her when a hand on his should caught his attention. "She never said anything about me. I can call you if I need you." Collin made his way past the boys and followed the princess without her noticing. Sonic shrugged. If Collin had the situation under control, then he could trust that the princess was in good hands… besides, Collin had a few tricks in his cloak and didn't often get a chance to show them…

 ** _Soon…_**

"This is exactly the kind of stick I was looking for! Hee-hee! Maybe it **_really_** is a magic staff…" Sally exclaimed as she picked up a cane like stick that was just the right size for her. "…that a **_Real_** sorceress dropped while she was walking in the woods! That would be **_So_** cool!"

Unknown to Sally, at that moment, an underground geyser is about to burst forth from beneath a nearby rock! Sally turns to the rock and laughs.

"If this **_were_** a magic staff I'd say to that Rock, ' ** _Arise, Rock_** , I command **_you!_** ' and it would…" WHOOSH! "… ** _RISE!?_** " Sally gasped. "I… I did it! I made the rock rise! It's magic!"

'Or you just happened to see a geyser go off in a weird location. Who put a boulder that size on a geyser?' wondered a figure hiding in the shadows.

What Sally didn't know was that she was being watched by not only this shadowy figure, but also a secret (but sleazy) admirer! Robotnik and Crabmeat were watching the whole thing on the Forest Viewer monitor. " ** _There_** she is, Crabmeat! The one I've been **_waiting_** for all my life!" The fat man said stupidly, unaware that he was talking about the twelve year old princess, Sally Acorn!

"You mean someone with a cure for bad breath?" The robotic crab asked stupidly.

"NO, you nit-witted nail clipper! I mean a woman with **_power_** even greater than **_mine!_** " He gave a powerful kick to the bot, knocking bolts loose. "With such power at my disposal, I could finally slam-dunk Sonic the Hedgehog and his Freedom Fighters…" His thoughts then got bigger as his red pupils started to form the forbidden heart shape in his black eyes. "I could take over the entire universe… maybe I could even star in my **_own_** comic book and tv series!" Then the mechanical tyrant said the stupidest thing ever recorded in history! "Why I think I'm in **_LOVE!_** "

 ** _Soon…_**

Back in the forest, Sally was trying to lift a log with her "Magic Staff" with less successful results. "…I said, 'Arise, log!'" She groaned. " ** _ARISE! ARISE!_** " She slumped her shoulders and quit waiving the stick like a mad woman. "Okay, forget it." She sat down on the log. "Yeah, this is really a magic staff… **_NOT!_** " She sighed. "Maybe I haven't been saying the right magic words? Maybe I should say… EEEEEEEK!" Sally screeched in shock as Robotnik leapt out of the bushes with a bouquet in his fat hand.

"Congratulations, you lucky woman! It is **I** the great Robotnik! I see you are already swept off your feet by my charm and good looks!" Robotnik grinned evilly. Hidden in the shadows is a figure trying to hold his breakfast as the fat metal loving tyrant tried to woo his "Witch!" Robotnik held out a bouquet of snapping krudzu. "I will not waste time speaking of my emotions… since I do not **_have_** any! Let these gifts speak for themselves…" He indicated to the "Flowers" in hand. "A beautiful bouquet of living-being eating weeds!" He then pulled out a box of chocolates and shoved one in his mouth. "An economy-size box of **_Bot-Bons_** … chocolate on the outside, **_motor oil_** the inside! Yum!" The shadow was starting to have problems. Then the shadow couldn't hold in his breakfast anymore as he wretched behind a tree at the sound of the most twisted thing Robotnik could pull out; "And finally a (YUCK!) 'Love' Poem: 'Please be my wife, not for better for **_worse_** —we'll rule over Mobius with the power of our **_Curse!_** " Sally gasped, blue eyes widened in shock, far too much to show how ill this made her feel. Then Robotnik, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, got down on one knee and proposed to the young princess. "Just think of all the **_Evil_** we can do together! Oh mighty sorceress, will you marry me?"

" ** _HUH?!"_** The shadow nearly fainted right there at hearing the fat man propose to his enemy in disguise. "Uh, I mean… well, um… that is…" Sally was flabbergasted, that is to say, surprised! 'Robotnik doesn't **_Recognize_** me in this costume! I've got to play along or I'll end up in a robot making machine!' She gulped. "Um… can I have time to **_think_** about it?"

"Of course! And while you think about saying **_YES,_** I'll prepare our spectacular, but practical **_wedding ceremony!_** " Robotnik grinned as he dragged the young lady along.

Collin wiped his face from vomiting on the forest floor as he looked at the fat man drag the princess away. "Robotnik's running off with the princess… If I try to save her now, she'll **_know_** that I was keeping an eye on her… then again, she had told Antoine and Sonic not to follow." He adjusted something under his cloak. "She never said anything about me. This stuff might come in handy after all… how annoying…"

 ** _That afternoon…_**

In the horribly messy city of Robotropolis, in a mockery of a convention hall named **_Robotnik Haul_** , there's a farce of a ceremony being done. "Inhabitants of Robotropolis, not since **_I_** , Robotnik, took over this planet, has there been reason to celebrate… of course anyone who dared to celebrate would have been **_destroyed!_** " Robotnik then cleared his throat. "Today, I will allow ten **_seconds_** of celebration, as soon as the sorceress and I are married by my new Wed-o-Matic computer!"

Collin was hiding behind the curtains of the "Wedding" and scowling. 'Yeah right. Scrap-metal, the princess is really in a doozy this time. What to do, what to do…'

"But before we can begin the wedding ceremony…" Robotnik started, "…My bride-to-be will give us a demonstration of her magical powers!"

"I…I will?" Sally gulped. She didn't have magic!

Collin rolled his eyes. 'Of course…'

"Unless, of course you're not a sorceress and are simply trying to make me look foolish!" Robotnik scowled.

Collin then got an idea. 'Well what do you know, you do have some good ideas, Robotnik.' He pulled off his cloak and activated something on a belt he was wearing. 'I was going to test this alone, but this will do…'

"Uhh… you said a…er…demonstration, right?" Sally stuttered. "Um… now let's see…" She didn't have any idea what to do.

"I'm **_Waiting…_** " the tyrant said in a mockery of Sonic's usual bit.

Suddenly, the stage had some smoke on it as Sally had accidentally waived her staff. "Wha?"

The sound of coughing could be heard. "Blech, who's idea of a joke is this?" Asked a slightly confused sounding voice. When the smoke cleared, Sally, Robotnik, and the entire audience was looking at a small overlander who was about the size of a Mobian with no hair, and dull blue eyes. He had a long crooked nose and was wearing a green military uniform. "Oh… that's nice." He frowned as he noticed where he was. "I **_was_** in my lab, you know…"

"YOU!" Robotnik jumped at the young man who quickly jumped out of the way. "What are **_YOU_** doing here!"

The young man started to tap his foot. "You know, it's none of your business, and I can honestly say this; Shut up, Julian. I was busy, I don't **_know_** why I'm here." The overlander dodged another attack and grabbed at the "Sorceress", with a gleam in his eyes. "You got me into this mess, you're getting me out of it, lady!" He looked slightly crazed.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY THIS TIME, **_SNIVELY_**!"

Sally's eyes widened in fright as the staff was shaken and once more there was smoke. This time though, the she caught sight of it leaking out of the young man's belt! When the smoke cleared, they were gone, and Robotnik was left in a pile of robot pieces.

 ** _In the forest…_**

A bit of smoke cleared to reveal a cloaked figure and his princess, still in her costume. "Collin, wha? That was reckless of you, I thought…"

"Yeah, you and those bolt brained dolts are the only ones seeing my costume this year." The cloaked creature grumbled as he took off the smoke belt. "Not my best gadget, but I had hoped to pull off a few things while you all were busy with the party. I'll have to refill it before I truly go out again tonight."

"Thank you, Collin… I know that wasn't easy for you… what did you do to your hair though?"

"Huh? Oh, right, it's called a bald-cap. I figure the less he knows about what I actually look like now, the better, you know?"

"Right…" She hugged the cloaked figure. "Thanks for saving me." Then she slugged his shoulder, leaving him smirking while rubbing it. "That's for disobeying and following me!"

"Yeah, yeah. You told Antoine and Sonic not to follow, technically. Look, I'll stop worrying when I can see you take down a bot singlehandedly, deal?" Collin smirked under his hood. 'Or at least worry less…'

Sally sighed. "Fine… why don't you take off the cloak and join us at the party? You'd certainly fit in with what you did today."

Collin shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. You kids can have fun without me. I'm going to do my usual missions that Sonic doesn't know about so that I can at least feel like **_I_** did something, you understand?"

"I'm sorry you feel like you need to hide all the time…" Sally sighed. "You're just as important to us as Sonic is, and you don't need to hide. We know you're one of us, even if you don't look like one of us."

Collin sighed. "Look, it's not your fault. I'll… hide less when I don't think I'd scare Tails… He's never seen me under here and I'd really appreciate it if I never did show him… least not until we can explain what I am to him without scaring him… alright?"

Sally nodded. "Alright… I still say you aren't scary though."

"I scared you, and don't lie, I saw how frightened you were."

"I was almost forced into marrying Robotnik!"

"And who's fault is that, Little Miss, "I can do my own thing, I don't need a babysitter", huh?" Collin chuckled. Tonight was going to be fun anyway.


	22. Chapter 22

A Little Sonic Goes a Long Way Part 1

Sonic the Hedgehog was on a hilltop with a purple guitar that he had found, and was trying to tune it. With a twang he ran off and made it to the bottom of the hill before the sound reached his friend, Tails! "How'd I do, Tails?"

"Great! Only you could play a note and then race down the hill before it reaches me, Sonic!" Tails clapped. "I don't think I've heard a guitar before!"

Sally scowled. "That's because that tyrant Robotnik **_Banned all Music,_** Tails!"

"I can still sing…" Antoine pointed out before proving his statement wrong and sung a few notes sour.

Bunnie Rabbot chuckled as she cleaned her ear. "Well, he only banned **_music,_** Antoine!" The southern belle teased.

Collin was sitting on a stump, mentally wondering why he hadn't just tried to make a guitar. Sonic obviously had a natural knack for it, just like his father, Jules had. Collin was busy thinking about his uncle Jules when Rotor made a request. "Please play for us, Sonic!"

"Sure… Oh, here's one I remember from when I was little… don't really know where from though…" With that, Sonic started to play one of his father's songs, unknowingly. Collin was glad his cloak hid his face as he smiled and let out a few tears.

Unfortunately, the notes from Sonic's broken guitar sounded off and made its way towards Robotnik's city of Robotropolis. **_Two_** creatures of evil screeched at the sounds of music! "MAKE IT STOP, POPS!" came the shout of a short, but fat robot who looked similar to Robotnik, but had a mohawk instead of a mustache.

"I HATE MUSIC!" Came the bellow of the familiar tyrant, Robotnik! Wait… Pops? Does Robotnik have a… "Junior go get me that shrinking device you invented while you were in Downunda!"

"Right!" Robotnik has a kid? Since when? It's a robot though, so I guess that makes sense… The short robot ran out of the room only to come back with a lamp like device. "Here it is, Pops. Who's making that horrid racket anyway?"

"It's undoubtedly Sonic and his stupid Freedom Fighters! Is that thing operational, Junior?"

Robotnik Junior, or simply Junior, nodded his head. "Yeah, it's ready, but it only lasts for one hour! Should I show them I'm back, Pops?"

"No need yet, son. I'm going to use your device to capture Sonic and his friends. That accursed rabble will no longer bother us if I succeed." Robotnik grabbed the device and marched off to his monitors to see where they would go. "He'll leave soon enough. He always leaves the safety of the forest."

 ** _Later that day…_**

The Freedom Fighters eventually made it to a concert hall that was crumbling down upon itself from disuse. "That's where I found my **_guitar,_** Freedom Fighters!" Sonic exclaimed as they came into view. Collin smirked. It had definitely seen better days. "The abandoned concert hall! There are enough instruments inside for us to form our own band!"

"Great! Can ah play Cymbals and a saxophone?" Bunnie asked jokingly.

"Why Bunnie?" Rotor asked.

"'Cause ah'm the **_Sax-cymbal_** of this team, Sugah!" Collin held a hand to his face as he chuckled at the girl's boldness.

"Well you do that, I want to see if I can find an old keyboard or piano. I used to play when I was a kid, and I wouldn't mind having another chance at it." Collin smirked as they all went at it.

"Let's go, Gang!" Sonic called as he led his friends down to the Concert Hall. "We want to find our instruments and get back home before anyone **_sees_** us!"

 ** _Soon…_**

"What a wreck!" Antoine commented as the group entered. "And to think this was once the home of **_musical masterpieces_**!"

"Looks more like a **_musical smash-to-pieces_**!" Sally commented.

"C'mon, dudes, the instruments are in the orchestra pit straight ahead!" Sonic said, leading them forward, only for them to be shocked by something. Sonic felt dizzy, and the rest of the group did as well. "Wh…what happened? That felt like an electrical shock!"

"It was more like a **_Short-Circuit!_** " Came a taunting voice. Collin instantly shot up and started shaking. Collin knew that voice better than anyone. "Haven't you noticed how **_Short_** you've all become?" Collin was the first to notice, taking in the change quickly.

Sonic still was having trouble figuring out who was talking. "Who said that?"

" ** _I_** did! And now that you're all the size of **_Dust balls_** , I'm going to vacuum you into my mobile Robo-maker!" The villainous Robotnik laughed aboard his machine!

Antoine could only shriek as the vacuum started to suck them all in. The Freedom Fighters were hanging onto the end of a carpet for dear life! "Robotnik is right!" Sally cried out over the machine. "We've all shrunk!"

Sonic was the only one not caught in the suction yet. "Run, Sonic! Save yourself before it's too late!" Tails called out.

Collin's hood was caught over the front of his face, but it was obvious that he was grumbling and almost cursing out Robotnik's name more than usual. By some mercy though, Robotnik only followed Sonic as the Hedgehog led him away from his friends.

Part 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog, the others can wait! I'll get **_you_** first!" The mad tyrant ranted as he chased the small blue hedgehog.

"Luckily I **_still_** have my **_speed_**! I've got to find a way to **_stop_** that **_vacuum!_** " Sonic had to screech to a stop just at the edge of a large box. "Whoa! I almost ran into this house-sized box!" Sonic's eyes lit up. "And that gives me an idea!" He jumped into a Sonic Spin and started to cut the box. "I can cut a hole with my **_Sonic-Spin_**! **_Nngh!_** This cardboard is like **_wood!_** " Much to Sonic's relief, the box was filled with papers that instantly flooded into the vacuum! "It worked! The box was filled with **_Concert Programs!_** "

"Those infernal programs are **_clogging my vacuum!_** " Robotnik growled.

Sonic quickly rushed over to his friends. "Let's hide in the **_Concert Hall_** , Freedom Fighters! Hurry!"

The group quickly made it into the concert hall and hid among the chairs. Robotnik kept going at them with his vacuuming machine. " ** _Insect!_** I'll find you if I have to vacuum the **_entire_** concert hall!" That was probably the first time Robotnik ever did a chore in his life.

Rotor gulped as they hid in the back of some chairs on the opposite side of the hall. "He **_means_** it guys! What'll we do?"

Tails, ever the jokester when stressed, had an answer. "Tell him not to forget to clean **_under the rug?_** "

"Cut the **_small_** talk… wait… where's Collin and Sonic?" The princess noticed that the two Hedgehog cousins were missing!

Sonic popped out just ahead of the fat man. "Yo, Robotnik! You **_missed_** a spot of dirt! Time to clean up your act!"

"I won't miss **_you_** , Hedgehog!"

"Gotta **_catch_** me first!" Sonic started zooming off through the walkway towards the orchestra pit.

"Your speed won't save you **_this_** time! When I **_want_** something, nothing can **_stop_** me!" Robotnik hit the gas. " ** _NOTHING!"_**

Sonic jumped across the pit where a tiny figure had a green rope waiting for him to catch. "Yo! That's what we're **_counting on,_** Bot-breath!"

"Gotcha!" Collin groaned as he pulled his cousin up with his green cloak.

"Where'd he go?" Robotnik questioned as the little figure helped Sonic up onto the stage, out of harms' way, and the two got over to the conductor's place to see the action better. With a fabulous crash, Robotnik's mobile robot making vacuum was destroyed! "My mobile **_Robo-maker!_** " Robotnik groaned as he picked himself up. "It's **_wrecked!_** "

"What a **_pity_**!" Sonic taunted. "You fell into the orchestra **_pit!"_**

Collin, who was too small for anyone from far away to see clearly, other than some green and brown clothes and his brown shaggy hair, picked up a conductor's baton and tossed it to the fat man. "Here's a baton so you can start **_conducting_** yourself properly!" Suddenly, Robotnik jumped up and sucked Collin into a portable handheld vacuum that had to have the button pushed in order to Robotosize them! "YIPE!"

"Collin!" Sonic cried out in shock.

 ** _"Surprise_**!" Robotnik now taunted as he smiled evilly at the tiny hedgehog. "I still have my **hand** - **held** Robo-maker, the **_Pest Buster!"_** The tyrant then sucked up Sonic! "Have a look… from the inside! **_HAW!"_**

"MMPH!" The two Hedgehog cousins were tightly crammed into the machine, and Collin adjusted himself to allow Sonic a little more room. He looked apologetic to his cousin, as did the other. They were trapped… it looked like the end for the Hedgehog Cousins!

"At **_last!_** And now to press the button and Sonic is **_mine!_** " Robotnik declared, completely forgetting he had two prisoners in the machine. Just as he was about to press the button, something knocked the machine out of his hand! **_"HUH?"_** He looked around angrily. " ** _Who_** did that?"

Princess Sally was standing on top of a Base as one of the lookouts while Tails and Rotor shot pins at the tyrant! "Great shot, **_Rotor!_** Now aim a little to the right!"

Antoine was standing on another part as the secondary aim sight. "We'll give him a **_Double_** this time! Ready…" Tails and Rotor Pulled back on the strings. "Aim…" Robotnik was locked into their sights. " ** _FIRE!"_**

 ** _"YOW!_** " Robotnik managed to jump over them only to land horribly. He growled as he got up. "That **_does_** it! I'm going to **_smash_** those little…" But when he went to look at the **_little_** Freedom Fighters, he saw them growing back to their normal size! " ** _Oh, no!"_** Robotnik gasped. "I forgot that the reducing effect only lasts an hour!"

"Hooray! We're back to **_Normal Size!_** " Rotor pointed out, being the biggest of the Freedom Fighters.

Sally spotted the machine that held the Hedgehog Cousins though and pointed to it. "But Sonic and Collin are still in the handheld Vacuum!"

Suddenly the machine crashed open like an egg! Standing just fine were Sonic and another person! Collin's signature cloak was growing to normal size on the stage! The person was pale skinned, much like Robotnik, but unlike him, this person was skinny, had dark brown shaggy hair that was spiked like hedgehog spikes, bright blue eyes, and had a long nose that was sharp looking like a knife. He was wearing a green button up shirt with long sleeves and some brown khakis and boots. The overlander stood only slightly taller than Sonic the Hedgehog. He looked really upset with Robotnik, and truthfully, who could blame him.

Sonic smirked at another victory being at hand. "Not anymore, Sally! Lucky for us all of Robotnik's devices are like him…"

"Yeah, **_Cheap and Rusty!_** " Came the growl of his overlander companion.

" ** _YOU!"_** Robotnik screeched as he recognized the smaller overlander.

Sonic nodded. "Give up, Robotnik! You're **_outnumbered!"_**

Antoine decided he needed to add something. "And almost outweighed!" The small overlander did a facepalm.

Rotor said his bit next. "We're not leaving this music hall!"

Princess Sally then finished up the threat. "But you are! **_Get Going!_** "

" ** _Fools!_** Ivo Robotnik **_Never_** runs!"

"No, but **_Julian Kintobor_** does, so get out of here!" The smaller overlander snapped. Sonic held onto his shoulder, holding him back.

" ** _YOU_** are going to regret that, Snively!" Robotnik growled as he tapped on his communicator in his gloves, once more ignoring the young man's protests about being called by the wrong name. "I've just signaled my **_Badniks!_** In a few minutes this hall will be **_Surrounded_** by an **_army_** of **_Robots!_** " Robotnik then started laughing. **_"_** And when I turn **_YOU_** into robots, your first job will be to **_BLOW UP_** the concert hall!"

Sonic glared at him but nodded to his Overlander companion. "Collin, if you'd do the honors?"

"I might be a little rusty," Said Collin as he made his way over to the grand piano that was still surprisingly intact. "But I'm sure I still know a thing or two. Care to stick around, Doctor? I'd hate for you to miss yet **_another_** of my recitals." Collin's voice was dripping with sarcasm. He had done a couple of recitals when he had been in school, nothing grand though. "Kid's stuff" as he would say, from before Robotnik took over.

"NO! WAIT! NOT THAT! Please! Anything but **_THAT!_** " The other Freedom Fighters got over to some instruments.

Sonic called out, "Let him **_have it,_** guys!"

The group didn't do too bad for a first practice. Sonic was playing on his guitar, following Collin's lead. Antoine was sitting next to Collin at the piano, adding in occasional notes where they were needed. Bunnie was on the trumpet while Tails took the tuba. Rotor had the base and Sally had the base drum. All in all, it was good enough music to drive Robotnik away.

"There goes Robotnik!" Pointed out Sonic as the tyrant fled from the music. "But the **_Badniks_** are **_still_** on the way!"

Rotor found a strange looking device, the one that Junior had invented to turn them small! "I found **_this,_** guys! It could be what was used to **_shrink_** us!"

Collin took a look at it with a glee in his blue eyes. "If it is…"

Sonic smirked as he had the same idea. "Then we've got an idea…" The two cousins nodded and went out to greet the bots.

 ** _Soon…_**

"That cursed hedgehog has done it again, Junior!" Robotnik steamed as his office was overflowed with his Badniks that were all the size of toys! "Get these Badniks **_out_** of my office in **_short order_** before the effect **_wears_** off!"

"Shortly, Pops, **_Shortly!_** "

 ** _Back in Knothole…_**

Collin had set up a room for the musical instruments to be practiced by anyone. "We're going to have to start moving people into the surface houses soon. We're running out of room down here…" He muttered while scratching his brown hair.

"Uncle Collin?" Collin turned to see Tails holding his green cloak. Bunnie was right behind him with a slightly concerned look in her eyes. The cloak had been forgotten in the rush of events that day!

"Oh… Tails… Bunnie… I…er…" Collin looked at the two nervously. He had never been confident about his appearances, and having hidden it under the cloak in the fox's hand for years, he was concerned as to what Tails would think of him now.

"You dropped this, back at the Concert Hall." Tails pointed out innocently.

Collin grimaced as he accepted his cloak back. "Thanks… um…"

Bunnie had a question. "Collin… what are you?"

Collin winced. Tails piped up his answer. "That's silly, Aunt Bunnie! He's a Hedgehog, just like Sonic, isn't he?" Collin winced again and shook his head.

"Hedgehog is only my name by adoption, Tails. I'm actually the… the same species as… as Robotnik…" Collin sighed as he slouched against a wall, the green cloak in his hands now useless to hide himself.

"That doesn't mean you're just like him though…" Collin looked up at the young kit with tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Tails…"

"He's right, Sugah!" Bunnie assured the teen. "He's all for turning us inta robots, and I've seen you fighting to stop that right along with us, side bah side."

Collin let a few tears slip. "Bunnie…" He sighed. "It's… a little… worse than that…"

"What do you mean, Uncle Collin?" Tails asked as he sat in front of the person who had taken care of him since before he could remember.

"Aren't you…wondering why I… keep calling Robotnik by the name of Julian?" Collin looked at the two with tears in his eyes. It was the best idea he had to start testing waters on the subject.

"I…" Tails slowed down to think about that. He hadn't thought of that before. Bunnie looked at the teenage overlander with equal concern.

"Yo, Collin!" Collin turned his gaze over to the entrance to the room where Sonic was entering. Sonic took a look at the three and became concerned. "Collin? What's going on?" He rarely saw his cousin cry in front of anyone.

Collin took a long hard look at his cousin, as though searching for something, before wiping his eyes, pulling himself up, and giving a small smile. "Nothing, Sonic… just…" He sighed and put his cloak back on. "Just need to think. That's all. I'll be in my room if you need me." With that, Collin left the room, leaving three very concerned Mobians behind.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Tails asked timidly.

Sonic sighed and ruffled his friend's head fur. "Yeah. Collin's one of the toughest guys I know, besides you that is, big guy." Tails giggled before looking up with a smile and sparkling wide eyes. Sonic smiled back and then looked at where Collin had left through. "He's still coming to terms with being right about Robotnik all those years ago."

"What do ya mean, Sonic?" Bunnie asked with a raised brow.

Sonic sighed as he sat himself down. "That's right, you weren't there…" He looked at the two. "Did you know Collin built Knothole? At least, the original caves… and then he also made all the defenses around here. Collin's really something else. Heh… When we were all kids, he used to avoid Robotnik like the plague, back when everyone else thought he was simply "Dr. Julian Kintobor". Collin wasn't willing to leave any Mobian alone with him for long. He was always talking about how he knew better than anyone just how evil the Doc was… Now though… now I know why…"

"Why?" Tails asked with his tails in hand.

 ** _Up in one of the oldest rooms in the entire Underground Knothole Village…_**

Collin stood in his room, glaring at himself in the mirror, and punched the wall next to it. Dust fell from the roof of his room and his knuckles were bruised a bit. Tears streamed down from his face. 'Why couldn't I invent something to change me into a Mobian?' His thoughts pretty much screaming in his own head.

' ** _Because then you just wouldn't be you, dear child…'_**

Collin stopped punching the wall and looked at the bush with glowing red berries growing on it. He rolled his eyes. 'Is it so bad that I don't want to be him?'

 ** _'You won't be him. You are who you are. You made your choice long ago, and because of that, good things will come… in time…'_**

Collin sighed. 'They'll hate me now…'

 ** _'Why? You're their friend. They've known you for a long time now. You won't hurt them, they will stand by you when you fight Robotnik. Give yourself more credit, Collin.'_** The bush seemed to rustle in the little wind that somehow entered the cave. ' ** _You don't have to hide who you are from them… you never did…'_**


	23. Chapter 23

Psuedo-Sonic Part 1

Robotnik was yelling at a diagram of Sonic the Hedgehog. "Sonic the Hedgehog, I know everything about you!" Not really, but he had learned a lot fighting the young boy. With a pull of a string, the diagram went spinning back into it's rack. "And I've used this information to create…(now I know I've said this before, but this time I really mean it)… **_THE ULTIMATE EVIL ROBOT!_** " Robotnik hit a switch and out came a robot that looked like Sonic! " ** _Pseudo-Sonic!"_**

"At your service, oh great and overweight one!" The metallic beast responded with a voice similar to Sonic.

Robotnik grinned. "Aside from knowing how to properly address his superiors, Pseudo-Sonic has many powers…" Robotnik pulled up a long list. "Let's see… requires 3500 Double A batteries… no, that's not one…" The robot got annoyed and started to rattle. It picked up the fat tyrant and broke through the wall of the factory at Sonic Speed! "EEEYOW! That's it! His speed is equal to that of the hated hedgehog!" Robotnik didn't notice how close they were to the cliff that showed his old volcano lair though. "And he can stop on a Diiiiiiimmmmeeee…" Pseudo-Sonic had actually stopped before the dime that was there and Robotnik had slipped from his grip and off of the cliff.

"You said the word **_stop_**." The robot pointed out before going after his master.

"Harumph!" Robotnik pulled out an iron as he got himself up. "Of course, there are still a few 'bot bugs to iron out."

Some bugs were already fleeing for some reason. Pseudo-Sonic wasn't impressed. "I'll flee when I'm ready, don't **_tick_** me off!"

 ** _Meanwhile, deep in the Great Forest…_**

"OW!" Antoine groaned as Sonic carelessly opened the secret entrance to Knothole by smacking the top of the stump against Antoine's head as he exited.

"Oh, Sorry, 'Twan…" Sonic grimaced. He hadn't meant to hurt the coyote, but he really shouldn't have been on that side of the entrance. "Hope that doesn't make your swollen head any worse!" Sonic chuckled as he mocked his friend's ego, which was almost as big as his own.

Antoine groaned as he adjusted his hair. "Tsk, tsk, Sonic… I'm on guard duty, protecting the secret entrance to Knothole…"

"Yeah, yeah,…" Sonic smirked, realizing the coyote was fine. "I'll see you later…"

"WAIT! You have to tell the guard where you're goooOOOOOOOoooooing!" Sonic had rushed off, sending Antoine into a flip with his speed as he ran off. **_That_** was going to hurt.

"No way! I'm not going to tell anyone that I'm on my way to pick flowers for Princess Sally!" Sonic smirked as he ran off.

 ** _Soon…_**

Sonic was in a meadow picking flowers when a butterfly came up to him. "Sonic the hedgehog! What are you doing in the meadow?" She was a white and pink butterfly who lived in the area.

"Hey, Betty Butterfly! I'm just picking a bouquet… is that okay?" Sonic didn't want to offend anyone.

Betty looked at him with concern. "I guess… but who wants a bunch of poison sumac blossoms?"

Sonic jumped at that. He hadn't recognized the plant, just knew the flowers looked pretty. **_"WHAT!_** " Sonic started to realize why he had been feeling weird and started to scratch. "Oh, no! I'm really allergic to this stuff! AAAGH!"

"Don't scratch! You'll make it worse!" Sonic started to swell. "Oh dear…"

 ** _Just then…_**

The moon was already coming up, and Antoine was standing at the entrance with a watch, scolding about the time when he saw a shadow that looked like Sonic. "Well, it's about time! You know we lock the door at dusk!" Antoine scolded the shadow as it approached. "Curfew, you know… **_Curfew!_** "

"Gesundheit!" The shadow responded.

"Very funny!" Antoine groaned as he opened the door and they went in. "I suppose you'd also laugh if one of Robotnik's robots discovered how to reach our headquarters? I bet your cousin would have a real laugh right there with you…" He was unaware of the bot snickering behind him. It was Pseudo-Sonic!

 ** _Down Below_** …

Bunnie Rabbot was closing up her hair salon, and Tails was helping her to sweep up. Boomer had gone back to his original name of Rotor officially now and was wearing a tag that said "Hello, my name is Rotor". He and Sally were waiting by the entrance, unaware yet of the butterfly that had just flown in. Collin was trying to find out who had taken his cloak as the green fabric that usually hid his species had gone missing. Thankfully, none of the residents of Knothole said anything about it to him, being out of his usual shadows for once. The adults were already planning on thanking Sonic, as they know it had to have been him or one of the other Freedom Fighters who stole it. They all felt he had hidden too long anyway.

"Ain't you sweet, Tails…" Bunnie commented as she finished cleaning up her shop. "Y'all swept the hair outta mah shop!"

Tails smirked and chuckled. "Hair today, gone tomorrow, Ms. Rabbot!" Tails responded as he finished up.

"Sonic and 'Twan are late." Rotor pointed out as he looked at his watch.

This statement got Collin to stop looking for his cloak. "Sonic's fast enough to run around the planet in mere minutes, seconds if he doesn't trip or slip, and yet there are two things he still can't do it seems…" The overlander grumbled while crossing his arms. "Catch an obese tyrant when he runs away and make it back before curfew!" Tails chuckled at this. "All that speed, and all he does is get into trouble." Collin sighed. "What am I going to do with that boy?" Collin had taken on being Sonic's guardian when his Dad, Sonic's uncle, Charles Hedgehog, had been Robotosized in front of them.

Sally tried to calm him down. "I think I hear them coming."

"All right- all right!" Antoine growled as he fell down the slide and onto the hay bale at the bottom. " ** _Stop pushing!_** "

"Just in time!" Sally sighed. "First Antoine…"

Tails looked over at the chute. "…and then Son-*Gasp*!"

"Son-gasp?" Bunnie was busy locking up her shop and hadn't yet noticed what the fuss was about. "Don't y'all mean **_Son-gasp?_** " Sally and Rotor also gasped while Collin got into a defensive position in front of them while pulling Antoine, who had bruises on his head from earlier still, behind the hay bale. "Oh, mah stars an' heavens!" Bunnie gasped as she finally turned around and saw the robot.

"That's not Sonic! It's a phony duplicate! A **_Robotic_** look-alike!" Tails exclaimed as he held the broom in a defensive position.

The robot certainly had Sonic's cockiness as it pulled out a microphone. "Pseudo-Sonic to Robotnik…" He waited till he heard static on the other end. Antoine was finally realizing what had happened. "Prepare to receive Knothole's coordinates!"

" ** _Hay…_** It's a 'bot plot!" Antoine gasped as his mind finally caught up. Collin scowled, making a mental note to check the boy for a concussion later.

Part 2

Robotnik looked at the screen with some surprise as he had a glimpse into the hidden village of Knothole, or at least the caves of it. "Psuedo-Sonic! How did you discover the secret location of the Freedom Fighters?"

"It was simple, oh keeper of the spare tire…" The robot laughed. "I criss-crossed the Great Forest at super speed until I spotted Antoine and easily duped him into revealing the entrance!"

Antoine looked mortified, but Collin quickly came to his defense. "And just how dark was it already, up there? Not to mention, he's obviously got a few bruises on his head and possibly a concussion." This got his teammates to be less irritated with the coyote, and more concerned for his health.

"Shut up, you, traitorous cretin." Robotnik hissed. Bunnie's eyes widened as she placed her hands over Tails' ears.

"Got it, you have no manners still. And what do you mean by traitorous?" Collin shook his head in confusion. "I never betrayed you, Julian. It was the other way around." The young overlander snarled.

Robotnik turned his attention back to the robot. "Just give me the coordinates, Psuedo-Sonic!"

"As you command, your Flabesty!" Psuedo-Sonic smirked. "The location…" The screen that the robot had been reporting through started to get filled with static!

"Pseudo-Sonic! Your signal's breaking up! Come in!" Suddenly the screen came up with "Technical Difficulty" and a weird smiling box. "What? **_WHAT?!_** C'mon… I paid my cable bill!" No… no he didn't…

 ** _Back in Knothole…_**

Tails had started running around the robot, causing it to short out. Sally didn't quite understand how. "Tails! What are you doing?"

"A trick Sonic taught me…" Tails explained. "By dragging my tails around, I'm creating a field of **_Static Electricity!_** "

The robot fizzled out and fell apart, much to everyone's relief. "The tin can contraption blew up!" Bunnie smirked as she put her hands on her hips. She wasn't built that poorly at least.

"Let's get it to my shop so I can analyze it!" Rotor exclaimed as they started to gather the parts. "I'm glad this Pseudo-Sonic is inoperative…"

Sally agreed, but had something else on her mind as well. "But it doesn't answer the big question!"

"Yeah," Collin agreed as he grabbed his medical kit. "Where **_is_** that cousin of mine?" He asked as he started to bandage up the bruises on Antoine.

Morning quickly arrived as Collin finished bandaging up his patient and sending him to bed. Sonic on the other hand had only just managed to crawl out of the bushes. The usually fast hedgehog was exhausted from not only the sleepless night, but also his allergies attacking him. "Hoo boy! It took all my strength to crawl out of that Poison Sumac Patch!" The poor hedgehog just kept scratching. "And I'm still itching like crazy!" He was dizzy too. "Next time Collin offers to teach me about the plants nearby, I'll take him up on that." He groaned. "I'm just itching to get back to Knothole… stand by for a **_Sonic Spin…_** " Unfortunately, Sonic was too dizzy and weak to actually pull it off, and splatted down on his face. "Oof! Not quite!" Sonic started to drag himself towards the forest.

Robotnik had decided to try and find the hideout by following the last known coordinates of his robot. He was flying on one of his Egg Mobiles when he spotted the downed hero. "I've triangulated the approximate area of Pseudo-Sonic's last call and…" He gasped as he spotted Sonic, still slightly bloated and covered in hives, trying to drag himself into the forest. "What's this? **_Sonic the Hedgehog!_** And he's defenseless! Just how I like my victims!"

Sonic barely noticed as he kept crawling. "Must… get… into the woods… too vulnerable… out in the … open…" He groaned as the evil doctor zoomed in for a closer inspection.

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

"No doubt about it, this was manufactured by Robotnik!" Rotor stated the obvious while Tails and Sally remained up with him.

"So what happened to Sonic?" Tails was worried. Collin had already left to find him with Bunnie's assistance.

"I know!" Came a small voice.

"Who?" Sally asked as she turned her head.

"It's me," a butterfly came in front of them. "Betty Butterfly! Sonic's trapped in a field of Poison Sumac! He's having a real bad reaction!"

"OH NO!"

"Not only that, but he's a sitting duck… I mean **_Hedgehog…_** "

 ** _Back on the surface…_**

Robotnik was laughing as he came closer with a blowtorch function on his Egg Mobile! "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Sonic found himself cornered and unable to get away. " ** _Robotnik!_** " For once, the young hero was scared that this would be the end.

Robotnik's machine then switched weapons to a large mace. "You're finished, Sonic! I'm going to drop an A- ** _Maze_** -ing load on you!"

Sonic groaned as he found himself too weakened to move anymore. "Too weak… to…move…" It looked like the end until the Egg Mobile was blasted to pieces!

"Y'all forgot to say, "May I?" Blubberbolts!" came the southern accent of Bunnie Rabbot!

Sonic managed to focus enough to smile in relief at his rescuer coming to save him. "Bunnie Rabbot! In the nick of time!"

Bunnie acknowledged the blue hedgehog with a concerned look before calling over his shoulder. "Collin, he's over here!" She then turned her anger towards Robotnik. "Y'all take a break, Blue Boy! Let me ring Robotnik's Southern Belle!"

Robotnik had never witnessed Bunnie before and was shocked. "GADZOOKS! She's half hare and half robot!"

"Sho'nuff, Chubby! My cyborg half is super strong…" Bunnie demonstrated by lifting him up in her robotic hand. "I'll demonstrate!"

" ** _NO!_** " Robotnik pleaded. "I'll take your word for it!"

Bunnie just chuckled. "I've been told I have great legs…" She jumped super high and far with them. "Bionic ones!" She carried Robotnik away from the Hedgehogs.

" ** _AIEEE!_** I'm afraid of heights!"

Collin came out of the woods as fast as he could, no cloak or armor on for once as he ran out in broad daylight to check on Sonic. "What the blazes were you doing in a patch of poisonous flowers? Not only that, but ones you're allergic to, to top it off?" Collin muttered as he opened up his medical kit.

Sonic was so dizzy, he just felt a tightness in his stomach as he admitted his reasons. "I… just wanted to get Sally some flowers…" He grumbled as Collin gave him some allergy medicine. "Sorry…"

Collin shook his head. "Why didn't you say something!" The overlander grumbled as he looked through his kit for something for the hedgehog's hives. "I know a little area where flowers of all sorts grow that no one messes with! You know I know the forest better than anyone…" He had a pitying look on the pre-teen's face. "You could have died from this…"

"I was embarrassed… I didn't want anyone to know I liked Sally…" Sonic grumbled. Collin merely rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation.

Bunnie came back a few seconds later. "So much for him! How do you feel, Sonic?"

Sonic smirked, trying to play it off that he was fine. "I don't mean to sound **_Rash_** , but find me someone to **_Sue, Mac!_** "

Collin rolled his eyes. "I'm afraid I didn't restock my allergen ointments from the last patient. I had some medicine for him to ingest though, so he should be easier to get back home." Collin put on gloves and started to help his cousin stand.

Bunnie thought for a moment. "I have something." She used a function in her robotic hand to squirt an ointment out onto the blue hedgehog, but accidently covered both cousins. She had her eyes closed as she did this though, as she was explaining what it was. "That rash will clear up with a dose of my Aunt Lulumae's ointment... Cornmeal paste with cloves, kudzu root, brambleberry pits, eye of newt…"

"YUK!" Sonic grumbled as he was covered in the stuff. "Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease."

"And sometimes Ms. Bunnie should look where she's aiming." Bunnie's eyes opened as she stopped and she blushed. Collin and Sonic were both covered from head to toe in the cream. "I'll ask for the recipe later, Bunnie, but I didn't need that big of a sample!" Collin looked funny under all the lotion. Then he glared at Sonic. "And **_you_** are taking a shower when we get back, I don't care what you say, you need to clean all your quills of that poison."

"…Right…" Sonic nodded.

 ** _Soon…_**

Sonic, Collin, and Bunnie were walking back. Sonic had recovered enough to walk on his own, and thanks to Bunnie's lotion, not only was Sonic free of his hives, but Collin didn't have any acne popping up over his overlander face either! And his skin and hair were soft and smooth to boot!

Rotor popped his head out of the tree stump entrance at that time. He noticed the three and smiled. "Hey, everyone…" He called down the chute. "Here comes Bunnie and Collin with the **_Real_** Sonic!" Then he had an idea. "Say, as long as I'm here, I might as well put out the trash!" He lifted up a garbage can that had Pseudo-Sonic's parts in it. "Welcome back, Blue Buddy!" He greeted Sonic as Bunnie and Collin stood by the chute.

"Thanks, Rotor! Did I miss any excitement?"

Rotor thought about telling him the truth but decided against it. "Aw, nothin' much happens without you around!"

Sonic smirked. "I guess I am pretty hard to replace!"

Collin and Bunnie had to hold their snickers in. Sonic was hard to replace, true, but apparently not hard to duplicate.


	24. Chapter 24

Revenge of the Nerbs Part 1

Sonic was playing a game with landmines… and winning… He was using his speed to find the land mines and get out of harm's way before they blew up on him. " ** _There's_** one!" He smirked as his feet barely touched the ground. **_"_** And **_There's_** another one!" He chuckled as he dodged another explosion. "Now **_That_** was a close one!" He laughed as he flew past the last one. " ** _HA!_** You missed me!"

"Finding hidden land mines is Dangerous, Sonic!" Sally cautioned. "Must you make a game of everything?"

Sonic ignored her question as he dusted himself off. "Okay, Rotor, you can start digging!"

Rotor nodded as he pulled out his shovel. "Thanks, Sonic. I'm sure I'll find an electrical cable buried here!"

Tails chuckled. "I'll be **_shocked_** if you don't."

Antoine however was rightfully nervous. "Please hurry, Rotor…" he pointed to the city that was polluting the air and everything else near it. "We are on ze outskirts of Robotropolis! If Robotnik finds us stealing electrical power from heez underground cables, he'll be furious!"

Tails chuckled again. "Yeah! He'll probably send an army of Badniks after us with an **_electric bill!_** "

Rotor looked at the hole he had made with confusion and pulled up two cables. "Look! I found two identical cables here!"

"Careful, Rotor! One of them could set off another land mine!" Sonic pointed out as he looked over the wires.

Bunnie scratched her head. "How do Y'all know which one to choose?"

Tails had an idea. "Try **_Eenie-meenie-minee-mo_**!"

Rotor took a deep breath as he readjusted his gloves and grabbed one of the wires. "Stand back, everyone! I'm going to take a chance and disconnect **_This_** one! Ready?" The others backed up a little. "Get set…" He closed his eyes and pulled. "PULL!" The cord snapped. He opened his eyes. "Hey! Nothing happened!" His relief was short lived as he noticed how wrong he was. He gulped. "Except for this giant force field that's formed around us!"

Antoine, as expected, was the first to panic. " ** _A FORCE FIELD?!"_**

Sonic used a finger to test what the prison was like. " ** _Ow!_** Even a Sonic Spin won't cut through this!"

Bunnie gasped. "We're **_Trapped!_** "

Tails then noticed something. "Uh-oh! Someone's coming… and I don't think it's the Robotropolis Good Neighbor society!" An army of swatbots was heading towards them. Suddenly something came up out of the ground where Tails had been standing. He jumped up and started to hover. " ** _YIPES!_** Who are **_You?!"_**

"I'm a **_Nerb!_** " The strange being explained. He certainly looked like a nerd, though the funny hat was too much. He was green, had a large nose, buck teeth, wore a white button up with a blue tie and his shirt had pocket protectors for his pens. "Not that it's any of **_your_** business!" Think the candy Nerds characters from Willy Wonka only all green and wearing funny clothes.

Sally spotted the Nerb and had an idea. "Sonic, look! That hole is our way out!"

Sonic agreed. "Hurry, Freedom Fighters! Let's go for it!"

The Nerb shook his head and tried to ward them back with his hands. "Stop! This hole is Nerb property! You must get permission from our king…" The Nerb then thought about that. "and he doesn't talk to strangers, especially strangers he doesn't know!"

The team wasn't hearing it though as they shoved the Nerb down into his hole and followed. Sally in particular was cross. "Chill, Mr. Nerd! This is a matter of our survival!" She wasn't about to let her friends, much less her people, be robotosized if there was a way out!

"Not **_Nerd_**!" The creature clarified as it was half dragged, half pushed through the tunnel. " ** _Nerb!_** " He grumbled. "And I'm not interested in your little problems!"

Bunnie growled as she dragged him down the tunnel. " ** _You're_** our little problem, Sugah!"

 ** _Soon…_**

The Nerb was pleading before the king in the underground kingdom of the Nerbs. "I'm sorry, your Lowness, but the outsiders insisted on following me to our **_nerb_** erhood!" The king looked like every other Nerb, only slightly hairier, and wore a red robe and a little crown. The robes had a white pocket with a pocket protector as well, and was full of pens and pencils!

Sonic shook his head. "We just want to find our way back to the forest!"

Sally agreed with a grimace. "Why are you so unfriendly?"

Tails probably made it worse though with his comment. "And why are your clothes so silly?"

"We Nerbs have lived in peace for centuries here underground on the planet Mobius!" The king responded. "And mixing with outsiders can only lead to trouble…" The king frowned. "Not to mention Athlete's foot!"

The Nerb who had gone to the surface then spoke up. "I only came to the surface to find out why you outsiders are disrupting our lifelines!"

Sally looked confused. "Who, us?"

The king glared at them through his thick glasses. "Because of your reckless underground building, our air vents and water supply are threatened!"

Sonic tried to reason with them. "But it's our enemy, the Evil Robotnik, who's responsible for all the below-ground building!"

Tails nodded in agreement. "He'll do anything to get cheap real estate!"

Sonic then had an idea. "Why don't we join forces? Together, I'm **_sure_** we can find a way to stop Robotnik once and for all!"

The king was unhappy with this, to say the least. "The Nerbs mix with outsiders? **_NEVER!_** Show them the way back to the surface!"

"Yes, your lowness!"

The Freedom Fighters were too annoyed by their "Hosts" to care for a guide. "Forget it, dude!" Sonic grumbled. "We'll find our own way out!"

Sally agreed as they started out through the caverns. "You are totally uncool!"

Tails agreed with a growl. "And so are your clothes, nerds!"

Bunnie rolled her eyes and glanced back to correct the boy. "That's Nerbs!"

 ** _Hours Later…_**

The group were still in the tunnels. "Why do the Nerbs build so many tunnels?" Tails groaned as they kept going up and down hills. "I feel like we're in an ant farm!"

"Chill, Tails!" Sonic assured his friend. "I'm sure the way to the surface is right over the next hill!"

The group came upon a large metal door. "Hey! That looks like a door!" Rotor may have been a mechanical genius, but he still had a habit of stating the obvious.

"It could be ze way out of here!" Antoine suggested.

Tails wasn't so positive. "Careful! It might be a closet full of Nerb clothes!"

"M.S.S.!" Sonic thought about it and grimaced. "I know what that means!" He started doing a Sonic Spin on the old door. "Just let me open this rusty door with a Sonic Spin!"

The group immediately regretted letting him open the door. Sally literally cringed. "YUCK!"

"What is zat terrible odor?" Antoine groaned. He was feeling ill from the scent.

"M.S.S. must stand for moldy spaghetti sauce!" Tails grumbled as he pinched his nose.

Sonic chuckled. "It stands for **_Mobius Sewer System_** , Tails!"

"Wasn't this sewer closed down and abandoned many years ago, Sonic?" Rotor asked.

Sonic started towards the entrance. "Right! But I **_Know_** it leads to the surface! I used to play down here when we were kids!"

Bunnie chuckled. "You must have been fun to be around at bath time, Sugah!"

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe." Came the nasally voice of Collin Hedgehog as he climbed out of the tunnel. "Ugh, thanks for opening that. I thought for sure I was done for... The tunnel stinks…" He glared back at it with an accusatory gaze.

 ** _"COLLIN?!"_** The human was covered in grime and oil and his green signature cloak was a bit tattered. He also looked somewhat burnt!

"What happened to you?" Sally asked in concern before mechanical noises interrupted her as well as a strange call for help. "What's that?"

"It's coming from the end of the tunnel!" Sonic exclaimed as he got ready to rev. Collin rolled his eyes and grabbed his cousin's arm as he zoomed off. "Wait here, dudes! I'll race ahead and see where those sounds are coming from!" He was unaware of his cousin holding on and flying right behind him.

Part 2

The two hedgehog cousins skidded to a stop just at the edge of the sewer tunnel. "So **_that's_** how Robotnik does his underground digging, with a giant robot excavator…" Robotnik was sitting in a dinosaur like device that had a drill and claw hand and spiked treads. There were also a bunch of swatbots digging around. "Driven by himself!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I love this toy! It's soooooo destructive!"

Collin then got his cousin's attention by pointing out an electric cage. "Robotnik captured those three Nerbs in one of his force fields!"

"How do you know what Nerbs are?" Sonic asked with a confused look as he finally realized that Collin was even there with him. "Didn't I tell you to wait with the others?"

"No, you simply ran off and told them to stay there while I had already grabbed your arm." Collin started to sneak over to the cage. "As for my knowledge of the Nerbs, I'm unfortunately one of the rare beings having been given the title of "Honorary Nerb" by the king himself. I was five."

"Help!" One of the Nerbs cried out.

Another had spotted the duo. "Let us out of here…" Then it grimaced. "But don't talk to us!"

"Why are they like that?"

"I've been one for over a decade technically, and I still don't know." Collin groaned as they made their way over. Suddenly he pushed Sonic out of the way. "Look out!" The drill from Robotnik's machine had nearly pierced them!

"WO!" Sonic cried out as he regained his footing. Collin used his cloak to cover himself from the dibree. He adjusted it to hide his face more.

"I'm glad you joined us here underground!" Robotnik taunted the two. "This is where Hedgehogs belong…" He then glared at Collin. "And traitors that think they're rodents..."

"I didn't betray you, you overweight sadistical waste of space!" Growled Collin. Sonic knew his cousin had been getting more stressed about this whole mess lately since Tails and Bunnie had seen him without his cloak. Without Tails around, he was more likely to spout his anger at the fat overlander. Collin still didn't know how to explain everything to those who already knew him, never mind the ones who had only just found out about his species. It didn't help that Robotnik had finally been reminded about who Collin was. "If anything, you betrayed us!"

"And I say you are a traitor to your own kind! This is where you both will stay forever anyway, so it doesn't matter!" Robotnik kept trying to hit them with the drill.

Sonic had an idea. "Yo! **_Robaldnik!_** I'll make it easy for you!" Sonic skidded to a stop in front of the cage. Collin gave a smile as he recognized the old trick that never failed for some reason. "Try to get me! I'll stand **_perfectly_** **_still…_** " The drill came close and just as it was about to touch him, he zoomed out of the way. " ** _NOT!_** " He then zoomed back to the Nerbs who were now free as the drill was broken. "The force field's broken! Now let's get out while we still can!"

Unfortunately, the Nerbs didn't trust anyone but Nerbs! "You're not a Nerb! You're an **_Outsider!_** "

"We don't like you!"

"So we're not following you! **_Nyah!_** "

Collin had had enough of this though. He grabbed one of the carts that had been used for hauling dirt. "OH **_YES_** you **_ARE!"_** The tiny overlander growled as he scooped the trio up and started to run while Sonic ran distraction.

"I'll teach you not to break my toys, cursed Hedgehog!" Robotnik growled as he tried to catch Sonic in his claw.

The Nerbs were only slightly more comfortable with Collin as what he had said was true, he was an honorary Nerb! "Where are you taking us?" The female Nerb asked as they sped off through the caves and into the sewer.

"Into the sewer! How else am I supposed to get you home?" The overlander grumbled as he slid through the sewer, only glancing back to check that Sonic was right behind him, which he was. One of the Nerbs was getting Wheelbarrow sick though.

"Sonic! Collin! What's going on?" Sally asked as the cousins wheeled up to them.

"Do you need our help?" Rotor asked as they came closer.

"After you give those nerds a ride, can I have one?"

" ** _Nerbs_** , Tails, and no!" Collin skidded to a stop, barely keeping from losing control of the wheelbarrow in the slippery tunnel.

"Take them home, and close that door tight!" Sonic looked to Collin as though to confirm something.

Collin nodded. "No time to explain, children! We must hurry!"

"You remember the way?"

"Yes!" The two went zooming through the system, "Left!" managing to not slip as Collin was dragged along by Sonic, "Right!" the smell barely bothering them as their mission filled their priority list instead. "Left and then another right!"

"There it is! Awesome!" Sonic screeched to a stop, managing to catch his cousin before he flew off into their objective.

"Saw open the lock bar!" Collin practically shouted as he kept checking behind them for robots. None were coming, thankfully.

"I guess I'm just a **_saw head_**!" Sonic joked as he did his mightiest buzz-saw spin!

"The Mobius River is just behind those doors, Sonic! If we can unleash it…"

"Then it'll swamp all of Ro-butt-nik's work! No prob, cuz!" When the bar was broken though, Sonic saw a problem. "Except for now we have to **_outrun_** the river!" He grabbed Collin and started running. "Okay, I'll admit it, I'm grateful you don't eat more!"

Collin's eyes widened as he realized something. "Sonic, we missed the exit!"

" ** _Wat-er_** predicament!" Sonic gulped as he tried to figure out another way out.

"Quick, Supersonic Spin up!"

"RIGHT!" The duo were suddenly launched into the air as Sonic did a twister like motion, causing them to come out of the ground like a geyser! They landed safely enough, though the torrent of water had ruined Collin's cloak beyond repair now, leaving him with only the hood and its pin to clasp it on. Sonic looked at the geyser with surprise. "Hey! I started a geyser! But where will the rest of the river go?"

The ground started to rumble hard, "I think we're about to find out!" Collin stated as he took off what was left of his hood and rub his eyes at what he was seeing next. The entire city of Robotropolis was lifted up by the river!

"Way cool! We raised the entire city of Robotropolis!"

"Talk about an **_Uplifting Experience!_** " Collin had a stunned expression on his face at this. Another rumble got the cousins alert once more.

"Uh-oh! Here comes another geyser!"

With a giant kaboom, a geyser blew out Robotnik on the head of his robotic digger! " ** _HALP!_** Get me down! I already had my bath this year!"

Collin looked up at the fat man and shook his head. "No wonder he stinks so much."

Sonic just laughed. "I wonder how the guys are doing in Nerbland?"

 ** _Soon…_**

"…and so, to thank you for saving us, and in recognition of our friendship, I hearby proclaim, Collin's cousin, Sonic Hedgehog, and their friends, the Freedom Fighters, honorary **_Nerbs"_** The king Nerb was reading off of a very long scroll. "…entitled to wear the traditional **_Nerb_** costume!" It was the most clothes any of the Freedom Fighters had ever worn before, save for Collin, and only Rotor and Collin seemed to look alright in it.

Sonic frowned as Collin adjusted a pin that was usually kept around his cloak. "I liked it better when they weren't friendly!"

Sally nodded as she looked down at the tie she was wearing. Yellow was not her color. "It's **_Revenge of the Nerbs!_** "

"That's nerds…" Tails grumbled as the hat on his head flopped low over his face.

"Hehe, you should have seen…" Collin bit his lip and shook his head. "Nevermind, they've done worse. Used to be they'd give you a pin too, but after causing injury with those, they stopped doing that. I still have mine though." He showed the pin that usually held his cloak on. The Freedom Fighters' eyes widened as they finally acknowledged the object that their friend always wore. It was a pin with a single pen crossing over a pencil on it!

"HOW DID WE EVER MISS THAT THING?" Sonic asked incredulously.

Collin rolled his eyes. "You miss a lot of things when you run at 90MPH on and call it a walk."


	25. Chapter 25

Twan with the Wind

It was a nice and sunny day when the Freedom Fighters were flying around in one of Antoine's Air balloons, looking for a nice spot to have the annual Freedom Fighter's picnic. Sonic was pointing out a nice place while Antoine was reassuring Bunnie that they would be fine in the air. Rotor was steering while Tails was looking over the edge. While they were distracted, a pair of Buzzbombers popped their balloon. Thankfully, the group landed unharmed in a tree, but their balloon was badly damaged, and Antoine was getting ridiculed for the uselessness of the balloon.

The Buzzbombers reported back to Robotnik, who discovered that the Freedom Fighters were looking for a place for their picnic. Robotnik grinned evilly as he plotted how to best disrupt their fun.

The next day, Collin found Antoine sitting on a rock in the middle of the forest pouting. "Aren't you going to the picnic, Antoine?" Collin asked. It was a rare moment for him to not be wearing his cloak, since he was starting to gain self-confidence.

Antoine looked up at his overlander friend. "No, I am not. I am too ashamed, Collin! I have let everyone down!"

Collin sat down next to him. "I was told you landed in a nice tree, at least." He tried to comfort the boy.

Antoine sighed. "If only there were some way to prove that ze balloon… and **_I_** … are **_not_** useless…"

Collin took a deep breath. "I have an idea. Come, let's make some necessary repairs to your balloon and give it a go."

"Really? But what about ze picnic? Did you not wish to go?"

"Antoine, there are more important things than stuffing your face, or rather, seeing Sonic stuff his face." Collin chuckled.

 ** _Later at the Freedom Fighter's Annual Picnic…_**

"Got any more mashed potatoes, Sonic?" Princess Sally asked as the group sat on the blanket.

"Just my **_instant_** potatoes, Sally!" Sonic smirked.

Bunnie looked at him curiously. " ** _Instant?_** You mean you just add water?!"

Sonic smirked and disappeared for an **_instant_**. "No, I mean it takes me an **_instant_** to zip home and get them!" He was back with some potatoes.

"Did you say **_Smashed Potatoes?"_** asked a buzzbomber as it shot the bowl and allowed it to cover Sonic's head.

"A Buzzbomber!" Tails cried out.

Rotor then pointed out something worse! "It's **_Robotnik_** with a **_squad_** of **_swatbots!_** " The fat man could be seen riding a robotosized rhino in the lead.

"Let's get out of here!" Sally called as the stampeded headed towards them.

"The picnic is **_over_** , Freedom Fighters… ** _PERMANENTLY!"_**

From up in the sky, two balloons came into view, both quite colorful. "Hang on, children!"

"Oui, we are on ze way!" Antoine and Collin were both in their own hot air balloons and flying to the situation.

" ** _Look!_** " A Buzzbomber called out. "It's balloon popping time again!

"Don't you ever learn your lesson?"

"Or are you just a down-to-earth kind of guy?" Two Buzzbombers laughed.

Antoine and Collin just glared as they grabbed a bucket each. "We'll show you **_Down-to-Earth…_** "

"Here's some mud to weigh down your wings…" The two dumped buckets of mud on the buzzbombers, causing them to fall. "Au revoir, Buzzbombers!" The two bots crashed to the ground.

"Nice shot, Antoine! Next step!"

"Oui! I am so glad we emptied ze sand from ze sand bags…"

"Don't let them escape!" Robotnik called as they bots tried to corral the Freedom Fighters.

"…and filled zem with ze **_Explosives!"_** Antoine threw the bomb filled bags off in one direction while Collin threw the others in another direction.

The Swatbots started to run away. "You clanking collection of cowards! Come back here! I command you!" With a sudden swoop, Collin had grabbed the fat man by his yellow cape. "What the… how **_dare_** you? UNHAND ME!"

Collin grunted as he held the fat man up about twenty feet in the air. "Unhand you?" He chuckled darkly as he looked at his target. "Gladly!" He dropped the tyrant with a dark smirk.

"WAIT! Let me **_Rephrase_** that…" Robotnik cried out before splashing down into the lake.

Antoine cheered. "Long live the **_Freedom Fighters!_** "

Sonic cheered for the coyote and his cousin. "Way to go, 'Twan! Nice job, Collin!"

"You're our heroes!" Sally called out with delight.

"Three cheers for Antoine, Collin, and their balloons!" Rotor laughed as they saw Robotnik splutter to shore before running away.

 ** _Soon…_**

Sonic was regretting allowing his cousin to talk him into riding the balloon with Antoine back to Knothole while the others were in Collin's. The hot air burner had broken, but Sonic wasn't worried, as Antoine was going on and on about how his own version of the fight went, surprisingly filling the balloon with hot air still! Sonic looked over to Collin's smirking face from the other balloon and rolled his eyes. This was probably pay back for something he had said or done to the boy earlier. He'd live though.


	26. Chapter 26

Collin Hedgehog in "The Good, The bad, and the Multi-verse?!"

Collin Hedgehog was an overlander, and a small one at that, with brown spiky hair, a green button up shirt, and some brown khakis and boots. He lived in a cave and worked on medical sciences as well as reverse engineering anything that Dr. Robotnik sent after him, his cousin Sonic, and their friends in Knothole. What he was looking at now, was nothing to do with anything of the above that he was certain was normal in his life now, or ever.

He had gone out that morning to do some herb collecting, as he specialized in herbal medicines. He had told Sally and Sonic not to expect him before sunset. While he had been doing this, he had been forced to flee in his green cloak away from Robotnik, and some of his robots. He had used his sword to destroy the two robots that had been following him, but Robotnik was still chasing after him.

Collin had jumped to avoid getting shot and accidently got himself and Robotnik to go through a star post portal! The two Overlanders found themselves in another zone or dimension! The sky was purple, and the entire area seemed to feel dark with negative energy. Collin was the first to recover as he ran away, his cloak getting torn in the process again. 'I have got to just start wearing my sports gear. It doesn't get torn as easily, and the rocket skates are far more helpful!'

"GET BACK HERE, SNIVELY!"

"Not my name, Julian!" Collin growled as he kept running. Most would question why Robotnik was calling him such a name. He only questioned the continuation of it. He remembered things from when he was born. He remembered who his overlander family had been born to. He remembered what had happened to his mother, and that his father was always leaving him with horrible sitters and his uncle, unknowing of how bad he was being treated. He remembered being abandoned by a sitter as an infant at the edge of the woods and he remembered being found by the Hedgehog Brothers; Jules and Charles!

Now he was in his teenage years and running from the fat man that only chose to acknowledge him by his middle name of "Snivilous!" Collin scowled as he made his way through the familiar, yet strange landscape of the area they were in. He had seen Robotnik's Egg Mobile accidently destroy the star post that was their way home, and now he had to hope he could find someone who would be able to send him back

"Well what do we have here?" Came the sneer of a green hedgehog that had jagged quills, wore a black leather jacket and shades, and had three scars along his chest. Collin skidded to a halt as he recognized the face of the hedgehog in front of him, though warped with dark intent and green.

"Sonic?"

"The name's Scourge, Snerdly, you know that." The hedgehog scowled. "How'd ya grow your hair back? And why are you so short, dork?" This hedgehog was definitely older than his Sonic, and a lot ruder too.

Collin flinched. 'If this is an alternate universe, then I suppose I'm lucky… if it's the future, I'm screwed.' Collin held his sword out as he unclasped his hood, the pin on his cloak quickly being refitted to his sword. "Sorry to report, but I'm not Snerdly, I'm Collin." He didn't often bring his sword out, but he knew how to use it if he needed to.

Scourge laughed. "So you always say. Sword's new though."

Collin raised a brow. "Is that so? Well that tells me I'm in an alternate dimension at the moment."

Scourge's eyes widened as his smile turned into a sneer. "Well that's new. Usually I have to go out to the other zones to find anyone new to fight." He cracked his knuckles. "So, you're a Snively from another zone? You think you're tough?"

"My zone's Robotnik is here too, ya moron." It felt weird to insult his cousin, but his mind had already grasped that this wasn't Sonic from his world. This Sonic didn't even want to be "Sonic" anymore. Collin then smirked. "I wonder if you have the same **_Real_** name as my Sonic? Is it, Og…"

Scourge growled. "SHUT IT!" He lunged at Collin, only for the teen to sidestep out of the way and for Scourge's quills to grind against his sword harmlessly.

"Oooh, I hit a sore point. That means I'm right, or it's close enough, hehe." Collin had a harsh gleam in his eyes as the sound of motors started to come closer. "Sounds like Robotnik's closing in."

"No way, sounds like the Kintobors."

Collin's eyes widened. "The what?" Suddenly, Collin found himself grabbed from behind and disarmed as he was picked up and placed into a moving motorcycle car! "WHA? HEY!" He growled until he spotted the driver!

The driver was an older and taller overlander with bits of grey peppered into his red hair, and his form was that of a soldier. Collin started quivering as they sped up, only to be joined by another motorcycle as they escaped Scourge. This motor cycle had a skinny man on it and he was slightly taller than Collin. He had a dark blue helmet on his head and had a long thin nose that was similar to Collin's.

"You got him?"

"Yes, but the kid's scared. Worse part is, he wasn't scared of Scourge!" The overlander driving the motorbike with Collin exclaimed as they rode. Collin held on tight and had somehow activated a hatch that was meant to keep him safe and inside the cargo carrier.

"That's nothing. I found a fat man claiming to be a doctor and a genius. I had to use Uncle's shrinking ray to carry him back when he tried to attack me." The other overlander explained as he held up an orb. Collin's eyes widened even bigger as his blue eyes locked onto the tiny figure of Dr. Robotnik in a glass orb.

"That's…"

"You know him?" The older one asked with concern.

"Keep him in there." Collin felt his stomach knot up. "For everyone's safety, sanity, or whatever you like to believe, just please… keep that… that thing… in there…" His eyes were watery with fear and wind as they came up to a dome covered forest. "What is…?"

"One of my uncle's greatest inventions, that shield keeps all of the great forest safe." The skinnier of the Overlanders explained as they made their way through the shield. "You're with us on our bikes, so the shield won't affect you."

Collin calmed down slowly as his mind wrapped around the technological marvel being used to protect the forest. The two motorcycles skidded to a stop just inside the shield, and the older Overlander hopped off first. He offered a hand to Collin. Collin looked at him with fear and confusion.

The other Overlander noticed and had a hand on his shoulder. "Dad, he's from another world. Look at him, he's scared of you. Your counterpart scared him or something." Collin looked at the other man with shock as his mind finally caught up to who he was. He was staring at an older version of himself, and of his overlander father! The taller overlander looked at the tinier version of himself. "How do you address yourself, young man?" He took off his helmet to reveal he was bald with only a few hairs left.

"C…Collin… Collin Hedgehog… my name is Collin Hedgehog and…" Collin looked timidly at the older overlander before crawling out. "I… um… I'll be fine, heh." He gave a weak chuckle. The last time he had seen his father, well… he had just been handed off to a nanny. He hadn't seen Senior since the day he was born… save for a glimpse of him before the rest of the Overlanders had been banished to space… "It's just… been a while since I've seen you in my world is all…" That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the reason either.

The oldest of the trio smacked his face. "What did he…?"

"Ah, thank goodness, you are alright!" Collin's head whipped around at the voice, but the user was nothing he had expected! It was the voice of Dr. Robotnik, but the form was a tall skinny fellow who looked more like a weed than anything. "I trust you were successful?"

"Of course, Uncle!"

"No problems, Julian."

"Um…" Collin's advanced mind was trying to compute all of this. He took a step back as he tried to lock onto the idea that in this dimension, not only did he get along with his human family, they were also healthy, and nice! And SONIC was the evil one! It was enough to give the young genius a heart attack!

"OH, hello there." The doctor, in his white lab coat, bent down to look at the tiny fellow. "I'm Dr. Julian Kintobor, but most just call me Doc or Dr. Kintobor. I see you've met my brother, Colin Kintobor Sr. and his son, Jr. To whom do I have the pleasure?"

Collin looked at his counterpart with shock at the slow realization that he hadn't been put through his kind of hell. He looked at the Doctor's hand cautiously before sighing and shaking it. "My name is Collin S. Hedgehog, and I'm in need of a star gate to get myself and my world's version of you back to my home zone, as I wouldn't dare leave that here." He muttered the last part darkly.

"Ah, well I think we might have something!" The Doc said with a smile. "Though I must say, you're quite small… how old are you, lad?"

"I'm…" Collin actually had to think about that. "Let's see… I think Tails is about Six now… Sonic should be about eleven now… and Princess Sally is twelve for a few more months… so… I'm…jeez… I think I'm about seventeen now." Collin scratched his head. "Man, I'm old…" Collin laughed bitterly.

The other overlanders looked at each other and then at the teen in front of them. Colin Junior was the first to speak. "You forgot your own age?"

The tinier Collin looked up at his counterpart. "Is that so bad that I forgot my own birthday when I have need of remembering others?" He asked slowly. It was one of the rare times when he would admit, his memory wasn't perfect, that he was just a man, and a small one at that.

Senior's face looked horrified while Dr. Kintobor looked paler than he already was. Colin Junior looked down at his shorter counterpart and knelt to his height. "How did you end up in this situation?"

Collin glared at the orb that housed his own world's Robotnik. "There's a war going on in my world." He shrugged. "Look, um… no offence, thanks for the rescue and all, but I have to go home, and probably going to have to take that piece of garbage back with me…" From inside the orb, Robotnik could be seen pounding and glaring at the tiny overlander.

"You're quite brave." Dr. Kintobor nodded. "I have a set of star gates. I'll just have to adjust them to your home zone."

"I'll do it, Uncle. Come with me, Collin Hedgehog. We'll get you home. Dad, go fix up the bikes and check on the others." The tall adult version of Colin indicated for the small teen to follow. "Come on, I've got some friends from other zones, so I'm best equipped to help you."

Collin grabbed the orb with Robotnik in it and ran to catch up to his counterpart. "I could end this right now, Julian…" Collin muttered to the orb as he ran. "I could stop you from harming my friends, my family anymore… but then there's your own child to worry about. Oh, I know he's a robot, and I could learn to reprogram him to be better… but for now… I suppose the only thing I hate about living with the Mobians of our world is that I don't have the guts to kill you for all this hell that you've put us through, and yes, I know, I know, big mistake. Freedom Fighters respect all life though…" The two entered a large building and a room with computers all over it. Colin Junior went right to a computer next to a set of star gates.

"Ah, good, you have them." Collin's head shot up and looked up at a man of similar height to himself, but standing on a wall! He had the trademark looks of himself and his counterpart, but had no hair like Colin Junior, and wore a military uniform that placed him at the status of Major! "I'm Major Znivley. I'm another version of you from another zone that goes between the other zones, known as the No-Zone. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hedgehog." He held out his hand.

Collin looked at it before shaking, trying to get an understanding as to what he was dealing with. "This is part of that whole theory where every event branches off due to possibilities and alternate universes, isn't it?"

Major Znively smirked. "My, that's quite an interesting conclusion for a sixteen year old."

"He said he was seventeen." The taller Colin pointed out.

"He's off by a month. Don't worry about it." The Major chuckled. "That perfect memory thing is only so useful. To be more accurate, it'll help you to remember more important events."

Collin grumbled as he glared at the orb in his hands. "Like the day Mobotropolis fell or the day I was born?"

Colin Junior stopped working at the computers and looked at his smaller, and younger, counterpart with concern. The Major grimaced. "Unfortunately. Think though, surely it's helpful in some way?"

Collin nodded slowly. "Why do I have it? Surely you all don't have this curse."

Major Znively then glared at the orb as well. "I usually don't jump into other zones, but after the complete cut off from the Prime Zone, I've taken to checking on the other zones that have… let's say good versions of myself, without permission." He changed his gaze to Collin with a complete calmness in his eyes. "In your zone's case, you are one of the most similar to the Prime Zone that I've seen in a long time. Your perfect memory is no doubt caused by the experiments that your mother was subjected to during the conceiving of yourself, and the further experimentation done to you by your uncle has more than likely allowed for you to suffer through other changes which will need to be addressed at another point. That… other incident from when you were six months old might come back to haunt you though.." The major said cryptically.

Collin stood there for a moment to compute all of the information. "You do realize that telling me all of that in such a way doesn't tend to confuse me, right?" His glare hardened.

"I could hope it would." Znively shrugged.

Collin looked down at the orb in his hands. "You experimented on my mother while she was pregnant? Really?" Robotnik just shrugged as though it shouldn't bother anyone. Collin shook the orb with Robotnik in it. "YOU MORON! NO WONDER SHE DIED THAT WAY! IT'S A MIRACLE SHE DIDN'T DIE RIGHT AWAY BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU MORONIC METAL BRAINED NITWIT!" tears were in his eyes from the grief coming over him, and some relief that it **_hadn't_** been his fault she had died.

"Collin…" Major Znively scratched his head as he tried to think of what to say. This teen was one of the most dangerous in the multiverse. "He's necessary to the balance of your universe…" Znively muttered, not really all that concerned if the fat tyrant died there or not.

Collin looked up at the major and rolled his eyes and dried them with a sleeve. "Fine, I'll deal with this creep when I get back to my home zone." Robotnik looked sick now in the tiny orb, and no one could hear what he was saying in the little thing. "As for this talk about a prime zone, am I to assume that you have some idea as to how my own life will turn out?"

"If it keeps going along the same lines as the prime zone, then there is a chance that you can end up in a similar situation and will be predictable. My job is to alter your timeline as little as possible to achieve the greatest results possible that will benefit all in your world and avoid a zone lockdown like what happened with the Prime zone." The major explained uncomfortably.

Collin thought about this. "How long until the portal is zoomed in on my zone?"

Colin Junior nodded. "Already locked, just gotta activate the gate."

"Thanks… I suppose this means that I'll see you boys again?"

The two alternate versions of Colin/Collin nodded. " ** _Most likely."_**

"I do have my eye on you and a few others after all."

"Uh-huh…" Collin Hedgehog activated the Star Gate Posts. "Let's go, Julian, before I decide to take after you on something and throw you in a vat of acid." With a shimmer, the young teen and the orb carrying his version of Robotnik disappeared.

"We could have dealt with his Robotnik." Colin Junior pointed out while the Major shook his head.

"No, as I said, he's necessary for the balance… at least for now. You know how it is."

"Doesn't mean I like it."

 ** _Meanwhile, back in Collin Hedgehog's Mobius…_**

"Why did you release me?" Robotnik asked suspiciously as he regained his normal size.

Collin just shook his head and started to walk away. "Because if I'm going to beat you, it'll be me from this dimension, not some alternate version of me that has an alternate version of you to help him."

"What if Sonic is the one to beat me?" Robotnik finally stated as an afterthought, though he truly believed himself to be the victor in the end of this drama.

"More the better. I never hated **_Him_** , but I do hate you, Julian." They both knew who Collin was talking about. "Learning what I have today just made it worse. You'd better hope you don't fall under my mercy too often. All it would take is a voice of permission from the princess, or her family, and I'd kill you in a second."

"You say that as though you can." Robotnik sneered.

Collin looked back at the fat man with a glare in his blue eyes that seemed to bore right through him. "I know at least a dozen poisons, liquid and gaseous, that would be easy to slip to you. None of the Robotosized would be effected, and I could easily come back and deal with Junior and your other robots afterwards. Don't test me unless you're the one ready to be schooled." With that, Collin Hedgehog left Dr. Robotnik with wide eyes and a surprisingly startled expression on the fat man's face. For a guy who healed people for a living, Collin knew how to threaten them as well…

 ** _Soon…_**

Collin finished collecting his herbs without issue for the rest of the day, and made his way home. Princess Sally was waiting for him. "Collin, what happened? You've been gone all day! And what happened to your cloak?"

Collin merely sighed and gave a small smile towards the princess. He ruffled her hair and kept walking into the cave. "I went herb gathering and ran into some complications… gave me a lot to think about…"

"Oh?" Collin didn't tend to ruffle her hair much anymore. Tails was more likely to get his fur ruffled, due to his youth.

"Yeah… I think my overlander life wouldn't have been so bad… if they didn't make the mistakes that they did." A single tear fell from his face as he entered the caverns that hid Knothole once more, his only true home where he belonged…


	27. Chapter 27

Beat the Clock

"Sonic the Hedgehog will never **_Beat the Clock!_** " A swatbot laughed as the majority of the Freedom Fighters were tied to a large amount of explosives that were connected to a giant clock with the timer going down!

Collin Hedgehog didn't even know how they had ended up this way, or at least, why they were alive. He kept struggling against the ropes, hoping to get loose. Sally was glaring at Coconuts the Robotic monkey and the Swatbot that was helping him while the other boys were panicking.

"You know it, Swatbot!" Coconuts laughed. "He'll get his just desserts or my name's not **_Coconuts!_** "

"Your name will be **_Mud_** once Sonic catches up with you!" Sally growled.

Coconuts just laughed and started punching a Sonic based popup balloon. "Not this time, Sister! This clean, mean, fightin' machine is takin' the hedgehog down!" He knocked the balloon away from him. " ** _Big TIME!_** "

Collin rolled his eyes and stopped for a second. "Not likely." Before continuing his struggle.

"Oh brother! Not again!" Sally groaned. "Doesn't Robotnik ever give up?"

That hit a nerve. "Robotnik?" The monkey robot asked. " **ROBOTNIK?!"** The simian screeched. "This isn't his plan, Princess!" Coconuts walked over to a poster that had Robotnik's top ten robots on it. The list read as follows: Batbrain, Grounder, Scratch, Crabmeat, Buzzbomber, Jaws, Caterkiller, Newtron, Cluck, and down at the bottom was Coconuts. "I'm makin' my move to move to the **_top_** of Robotnik's **Hit Parade!** _"_ He explained. "And earn my gold star in the process!" He then started to explain more. "Scratch made **mincemeat** out of **Crabmeat** when he deep-sixed Sonic for 16 seconds… then he **fowled** out!" The robotic simian had started to pace. "When **Grounder** tried to **floor** that hedgehog, he **grounded** out after 17 seconds!" Then he got excited. " **Bat Brain** was smarter than the both of them! He **winged** it for 37 seconds before finally **caving in!** _"_ Coconuts growled. "But nobody's gonna make a **monkey** out of me! I'm gonna go the distance!"

Collin couldn't help but snap at the robot. "YOU ARE A MONKEY ALREADY, YOU MORONIC ROBOTIC SIMIAN!" He then started to cough heavily. His interactions with the other zone had left his body in a bit of shock still and his illness had come back from the heavy amounts of toxins in not only the other zone, but also from his own zone and the pollution nearby, never mind the stress.

"Easy, Collin!" The princess consoled before glaring at Coconuts. "You're **Nuts!** "

"That's **_Coconuts_** to you! Haven't you been paying attention?"

Sally stood her ground so to speak as Coconuts grabbed a rolled up plan. "It's only a matter of **time** before Sonic cleans your **clock**!"

"Ahh, but **time** is on my side!" He opened up his plan to the Princess. " ** _See?_** While my **_Time Bomb_** ticks away the seconds to your doom, Sonic will be **_dazzled, dazed, and delayed_** by my never-ending maze!" Sally gasped as she looked at the dizzying map. It looked somewhat confusing to say the least.

"Mind if I see?" Collin asked curiously. Coconuts shrugged and showed it to the overlander. He flinched when the overlander laughed though. "Where did you get that? That's a kids' meal map from an old Happy Burger restaurant! Pfft!"

"Wha? What?" Coconuts was confused. He had made the map himself!

"Oh man, Sonic will have that done quick enough." Collin smirked ruefully, causing Coconuts to have concerns.

Sally looked at the clock that was nearing its last second. "Maybe, but he's never been this late before!"

Rotor then blushed as he thought of something. "Princess, in case this is the **one time** when **time** beats Sonic…" Antoine and Tails also started blushing while Collin rolled his eyes. "We were wondering… where do **we** rank on your "Top Ten" list?"

Sally also blushed as hearts filled her eyes. "Sorry boys, Sonic takes all ten slots on **my** list!"

With seconds to spare, a blue whir entered the room. "I **_knew_** it! In the nick of time again!" Coconuts scowled as Sonic jumped in through the window.

"He-ere I come to save the da-a-a-y!" Sonic sang out as he spin dashed in, cutting the ropes tying up his friends, and allowing them to escape.

"SONIC!" Sally cried out in joy.

"It ain't **_Mighty Mouse_**!" Sonic chuckled. "Everybody, let's make a **timely** escape!"

The Freedom Fighters ran as Coconuts started getting flustered. "Wait a **_second!_** " Which was all he had left. "What about my **plan?** " Then he realized the explosion was going to go off. "Uh-oh!" With a giant kablooey, the room had blown up with only minor damage to Coconuts and the Swatbot.

Outside, the Freedom Fighters were heading home. "It's about **time** you got here!" Sally exclaimed.

"Hey! I took my **time!** " Sonic laughed.

Collin just shook his head with a smirk. "I don't really believe we have **time** for this."

Antoine even got in on it. "Oui, we had best move before Coconuts gets a **second** chance!"

"It's a good thing his **timing** is off, huh, Rotor?" Tails laughed as they went.

"Sure, but… ah man, you guys took all the good puns!" Rotor scowled while the others laughed on the way home.

Back with Coconuts, we find the robot putting himself back together. "What time is it?" He asked with a groan.

"Time to get a new clock!" The swatbot responded.

"Oh, well. I did get my **_stars_** even though I got **ticked** off and made a **monkey** out of myself again!" He fainted as his vision was filled with red stars. He'd pick up the mess at a later **time** …


	28. Chapter 28

A Timely Arrival! Part 1

Robotnik was hopping mad as Sonic the Hedgehog kept piling up all of the scrap robot parts that he had defeated that week right in front of Robotnik. "Sonic the Hedgehog is piling up all of my robots that he **trashed!** "

Sonic snickered. "How **_metallically ironic_** ," He poured the last load and dumped it from his red wheelbarrow. "I'm into **_recycling_**!"

Robotnik started to pick up the pieces and grumble. "That blue-blooded do-gooder foils my evil schemes every time! **_Time_** after **_time_** …" He crushed a bot's remains in his hands. **_After TIME!_** " Then an idea came to him. "Hmmm…"

"Gotta Juice, Lord Lard!" Sonic mocked as he left. He turned his head only as he heard the maniacal tyrant start to laugh like a mad man.

"Gadzooks! What an idea! A **_Time Machine!_** " Robotnik laughed insanely as Sonic sped off towards the Great Forest.

"I bust up his 'bots, and he laughs! There's a fine line between comedy and tragedy!" Sonic zoomed through the forest to the secret entrance of a tree stump and jumped in, only to end up at the headquarters of the Freedom Fighters where Tails was waiting for him. "Hiya, Tails! Where's the rest of the Freedom Fighters?"

Tails started to fly, leading his friend down the cavernous halls. "Princess Sally wants to show us something on television, come on!"

"How does he do that tail thing?" Sonic wondered curiously as he followed.

When they came upon Princess Sally's room, they found Sally was crying as she watched the monitor while Collin was holding a tissue box. He was wearing his green cloak, but this one was made of stronger fabric than his usual one, and he didn't have the hood up for once, so one could see him rolling his eyes as the princess cried. "Oh, the gut-wrenching tragedy!" She sobbed as she took another tissue. "The mega-heartache!"

"Oh puh-lease!" Collin groaned.

Sonic looked a bit concerned. "Wow! Something horrible must be happening!"

"Nah…" Tails assured him. "She's watching her soap opera!"

"Look, will you calm down if I tell you that the two of them will likely get back together before the next big calamity? It's a show!" Collin grumbled while wiping away one of his own silent tears. It was a moving piece though, he had to admit. He secretly agreed with the princess, but he had to show his tougher side around the children, he felt.

"Are you sure, Collin? I… OH, hi, Sonic!" Sally blushed as she noticed Sonic and Tails snickering at the doorway. "I…er… was just about to turn on the news!" She hit a button and turned on Robotnik's news from Robotnik Belly-Vision studio.

"Suuuuuure you were!" Sonic smirked.

"Good day!" came the robot on the television. "Our lumpy leader, Ivo Robotnik, has just unveiled his latest invention…" A screen came up from behind. "The mobile monster chainsaw!"

Collin closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. Sonic placed a hand over Tails eyes as Robotnik demonstrated the horrible machine, and the princess gasped! "Watch how easily it mows down the Great Forest! It **_Wood_** clear fifty acres per minute!" The fat man snickered.

"OMIGOSH! Don't look, kid!" Sonic gulped as he saw a good portion of trees cut down so carelessly.

"And now… the weather…" The robot was back on the screen.

Sonic growled as he got into a spin dash. "I already know what the temperature is…" He jumped. "My boiling point!"

"Sonic…" Sally turned towards him. "WAIT!"

"Too late!" Tails cried out. "Big blue is bright red!"

Sally was startled as she looked up at the hole Sonic had just made. "Wow! Sonic's so hot, he burned a hole to the surface!"

"Robotnik pushed him over the edge!"

Collin finally opened his own eyes, which were darker than his usual sky blue, and glared. "Yeah, and ten to one says that's what the fat man wants." He sighed as his vision went back to normal.

"Hey, Collin?"

"Yes, Tails?"

"You call him Julian Kintobor, but he calls himself Ivo Robotnik…"

"So?"

"Who's right? What is his real name?"

Collin shrugged. "At this point? They both are."

 ** _Seconds later with Sonic and Robotnik…_**

"That's the last tree you cut, Blubberbutt!" Sonic yelled as he landed next to the machine as Robotnik drove it.

"What?" Robotnik pretended that he couldn't hear the enraged hedgehog.

"You heard me, 10-W-40 breath! Now come down here and take your punishment like a man!" As though the fat man ever did.

"Still can't hear you!" The fat man shouted over the sound of the chainsaw blade. "Come closer…" Sonic did just that. "A little bit more…" Robotnik smiled. "HAW!" He flipped a switch and suddenly, Sonic was being vaporized by a green energy that was pulling him back in time! "The chainsaw is only a decoy to lure you into the range of my time teleporter!"

"WHOA!" Sonic shouted as he was pulled in! "Yeow! I'm having one of those 'I've been here before' experiences!" Sonic landed in a desert like land with a **_PLUNK!_** "Oof! Where am I?" Sonic sat up and rubbed his head. A shadow had cast itself on him. "Who turned out the lights? What time is it?"

Before he could react, a pterodactyl had scooped him up! "To answer your questions: You're in prehistoric Mobius! **_I_** turned out the lights, and finally," The dinosaur licked its lips. "It's dinnertime!"

"Holey smokes! A Pterodon!"

 ** _In the present with Collin, we find him suddenly stop and frown. Sally looks at him with concern as they try to figure out how to get Sonic back. "What's wrong?"_**

 ** _"I have a funny feeling I should correct Sonic about dinosaurs of all things!" Collin grumbled as he double checked his tool kit before leaving. "It's probably nothing…"_**

"No way you're chowing on my pork chops, Leather-wings!" Sonic shouts as he does a Sonic Spin, managing to cut the claws a bit of the Pterodactyl. Then he notices that once again, he's acted without thinking as he finds himself falling into the mouth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex! "Uh-oh! This big lizard thinks I'm the remedy for his **_saur_** throat!"

"Nice of you to drop in!" The king of dinosaurs laughed.

Part 2

Sonic started to spin in the mouth of the dinosaur, having learned a few tricks since he had encountered the Universalamander, so teaching its ancestor a lesson wasn't going to be as hard. "Sonic the hedgehog is not about to go down in history as a **_DINO-SNACK!_** " He broke all of the T-rex's teeth with a ricochet of a spin attack, allowing him to escape. "I hope your medical insurance covers dental!"

Sonic zoomed away only to run into one of the strangest things he had ever seen! "Nice work, **_cuz_**!"

Sonic gasped. "HOLY EVOLUTION! Who are you?"

"Ice age out! I'm Sonugh the Boghog!" Sonic was looking at one of his ancestors after the days of fire that had supposedly created their world! It was another version of Sonic, but with no shoes, and a long white beard!

"Boghog? Don't you mean Hedgehog?!"

Sonugh shrugged. "Never heard of a **_hedge_** , kiddo! There ain't nothin' around here except volcanoes and **_BOGS!_** " Sonugh indicated for Sonic to follow. "C'mon!" He started running super fast, just like Sonic! "I'll show you… if you can keep up!" Same attitude also.

"WOW! He accelerated as fast as I did!... **Relatively** speaking!"

As the two were running and talking, they were unaware of the danger they were being watched! "What's this? Two Sonugh the Boghogs?" The shadow scratched his large orange beard. "Or maybe I need to invent bifocals!" It grumbled as it went behind a primitive catapult to reveal a large fat man with a recognizable mustache and large orange beard in a red skin toga. "It wouldn't matter if there were a hundred of them…" He got ready to pull the rope. "For I, the wicked and evil **IVO ROBOGHNIK,** will destroy all boghogs with my primitive machine!" … at least… he knows it's primitive? "Stand by to **Fire** on my **command!** " He ordered no one in particular as he held a hat with stars on his head. He then switched over to a hat with a private's mark on it. "Your spoken word is **Law** , oh Imperial Wide Load!" Roboghnik then groaned. "This will be more fun when I get to invent robot slaves in 40,000 centuries!" Does he think he'll live that long or…

With the sound of a twang, a large boulder was flying high and fast over towards the speeding Hedgehog and Boghog! The two were unaware of this. "No kidding? There's a power-crazed caveman named **_Robughnik?!_** Amazing!"

"You'll find many things fascinating here, Cousin!"

The two just happened to stop under where the boulder was about to smash them. "Hmmm…" Sonic noticed how dark it _s_ uddenl _y_ was over them. "You mean like how early it gets **Dark?** "

"That's not **_NIGHT_** … it's… uh-oh!" Sonugh looked up and saw the boulder just as it was about to smash the duo!

With a large THUD, the blue speedsters were gone! "Tra-la-la-dee doo Dyeee…. The boghogs have gone goodbye!" Robughnik danced and sang while snapping his fingers. He was truly happy to believe he had been victorious!

 ** _At that moment, 400,000 years later…_**

Robotnik was doing the same thing! Unfortunately for the happy tyrant, a Crabmeat bot saw him. "Robotnik! Singing! Dancing! Smiling!"

Robotnik quickly spun around. " ** _Ahem!_** " He cleared his throat. "Crabmeat… you will forget everything you just saw!"

"OH, how can I? You broke your own rules! It's forever etched in my memory!"

Robotnik shrugged and smashed the bot under his foot. "Very well… let's do it the **_easy_** way…" He then turned his attention to a swatbot that was nearing him. "Are we all set out there, Swatbot?"

"Affirmative, oh Oval Ogre!"

"I shall cut the ribbon and open the display of my time machine!" The tyrant proclaimed proudly as he held the ceremonial scissors in his hand in front of the machine that had gotten rid of the pesky hedgehog. "Where's the crowd?"

"They went for a keg of 10-W-40…HEY!" The swatbot heard something as he turned. "Did you hear something?" Coming up to face them was the Freedom Fighters, led by Princess Sally! Collin came skating forward with his Hedgehog like sports gear, Rotor had his tools, Antoine carried his father's sword, Bunnie came marching forward with her bionic half fully ready to break bots, Tails flying right behind the group, and Sally carrying the flag of her kingdom. "DANGER-Danger! A surprise attack by the Freedom Fighters!"

" ** _CHARGE!_** " Sally cried out as the group came to capture the time machine.

"EGAD!" Robotnik shrieked as he realized something. "I **_can't_** escape…" He looked down at the scissors in hand. "Mother told me **_NEVER_** to run with scissors!" His mother was the only one he truly feared and or respected.

"Forward for **SONIC…** and our cause!" Tails called out as they went into the fray.

 ** _Back with Sonic in the B.C. eras…_**

"Must you *cough cough* always get yourself into *cough cough* trouble, Sonugh?" Sonic found himself looking at an ancient version of his cousin who was apparently younger than Sonugh, as he had no beard yet, just some light whiskers starting to grow, and his hair was even spikier than Collin's. He wore an outfit made out of banana leaves and his sharp nose was even sharper than Collin's as well! The poor fellow kept coughing horribly though. He had pulled the two speedsters down underground via a secret passage that they hadn't been aware of, barely managing to get them deep enough to avoid the boulder.

"Sonic, meet our medicine man, and all around worry wort optimist, Coughin! He's had that nasty cough since Robughnik tried to drown him in tar." Sonugh snickered as he picked himself up. "Since then, he's been helping us out."

"Whoa." Sonic didn't know what to think about that.

"You do know that optimist means you look on the bright side, right?" Coughin looked him over with a critical eye. "I'll go get the others." With that, he walked off.

"Don't mind him, he's usually pretty nice." Sonugh started running again. "Follow me, last one there is a rotten velociraptor egg!"

"YUK!" Sonic started after his ancestor. "HEY, Last one where?"

 ** _Soon…_**

"Won't you stay for dinner, Sonic?" Sonugh asked as he turned a large egg over a fire on a spit.

Sonic eyed it suspiciously, noting the rotten smell. "Unhhh…. What are you having?"

"I told you… Rotten velociraptor egg!" Sonic made a face. The sound of coughing brought the two's attention to the door. "Hey, look who dropped by! My friends the Freedom Fighters!"

"HI!" The gang shouted, save for Coughin. He just waived.

'Whoa! Déjà vu Deluxe!' Sonic found himself looking at versions of his friends in caveman attire. Sonic then had an idea. "Hey, why doesn't the whole group of us go outside and spin for some **_Take-out!_** " This caused all but Sonugh and Coughin to shriek and start clutching eachother as they trembled worse than Antoine!

Coughin merely shrugged. "I could go for a trip to Bedrock. *cough cough* I hear they got some good *cough cough* Brontosaurus Ribs there."

Sonugh on the other hand took his descendent aside to explain things. "Easy on the 'Outside', Sonic! We don't go 'there' save for when Coughin needs his herbs. In fact, we're planning on burrowing further underground!"

"WHAT?" Sonic was shocked as he thought about this. "You can't do that! You are my ancestor! You've gotta live on the surface…" He started waiving his hands crazily to try and explain. "In the sunshine and fresh air…" He took a deep breath as his last panicked thought came in. "Otherwise, I'll evolve into **_Sonic the Mole!_** "

This caused Coughin to sputter between a cough and a laugh. Sonugh on the other hand tried to reason with his descendent. "But it's dangerous up there! Dinosaurs! Robughnik!"

"You'll adapt! Use your brains! Hide in the Hedges!" Sonic countered.

"The what?!" Sal-ugh asked curiously as she had no clue what the hedgehog was talking about.

"Oh, that's right…" Sonic scowled. "You don't have hedges yet!" Then he had an idea. He grabbed Sal-ugh and pulled her along. "Allow me to show you, Sal-ugh!"

"WAIT!" Sonugh called as he and the others followed.

"Where are you going?" Tails' ancestor asked as they followed.

On the surface, Coughin was helping Sonic with a bush as they showed Sal-ugh. "See, you dig up these bushes and replant them in a row…" Sonic explained while Coughin dug around his dinosaur skin sack and pulled out some prehistoric scissors. "Trim'em up and add the two level effect!"

"Land sakes!" Sal-ugh gasped.

"Don't you mean **_Land-scape?"_** Sonugh chuckled.

After a few minutes, the other Freedom Fighters were playing around the area as they planted more shrubs and bushes. Sonugh looked at them as Coughin was sitting on the edge of where the others were playing, and gave a small smirk. "Gee, they **_do_** seem happier and more free out here!"

Sonic nodded. "Sure! Some day you'll thank me for this, Great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandpa!"

"Here, Sonic." Coughin came up to the duo and handed the hedgehog something. "If you find a descendent of mine, give them that. Hopefully, it'll help them." It was the longest he had gone without coughing in a while.

"Um, thanks, Coughin." Sonic smirked as he took the little bag in hand.

"We'll do it!" Sonugh suddenly said. "Like you said, **_adapt!_** Use our **_Grains!_** "

Coughin gives a roll of his eyes and glares slightly. "That's **_Brains,_** Sonugh!"

Suddenly, Sonic started to fade again. "WHOA!" He found himself going back through the timestream! "Yee-ha! I'm white-water rafting down the timestream!" Sonic landed flat on his face. "WHOOF! I gotta get a new agent, these flights are killing me." He groggily sat up, with the help of a hand on his quills. "Sally! Tails! Rotor! Antoine!" Then he looked up to his cousin with a smirk. "Collin…heh…" He looked back to them. "How did I get back here?"

"The Freedom Fighters raided Robotnik's headquarters!" Tails exclaimed.

Sally smiled. "We swiped his time machine, and brought you home!"

"Collin and I managed to lock onto you and pull you back, but the machine's core parts melted now, so we got lucky." Rotor explain.

 ** _Back in the stone age…_**

Sonugh was groaning as he and the other Freedom Fighters of the Stone Age started to set up the bushes just as Sal-ugh asked.

 ** _In the present, later that night…_**

Collin was looking at the item that his ancestor had given Sonic for him. He smirked as he planted the seeds in a couple of pots in his room after identifying them. "Shame I didn't get to meet this Coughin fellow. He just saved an entire two species of flowers by giving us the seeds for them." One of the plants was labeled "Acceleratia Flower: Fast growing flower, supposedly source of Sonugh's speed and all around natural healing flower for pains" and "Duecendium Flower: Stubborn flower that is known for helping drain one of poison/ antidote flower for most poisons" These two plants were going to be very useful, or at least an interesting addition to Collin's underground greenhouse.


	29. Chapter 29

Bold-Headed Eagle

Collin and Sonic found themselves being chased through a mountain range, and had accidently fallen off of a cliff. "Next time I say I'm going to collect some mountain herbs, I'M GOING ALONE!" Collin growled as he tried to find a way to hang onto the sheer cliff they were falling from. His green cloak was once more torn, but not in its worst state as it was just a tear to the side of it.

Sonic was too busy trying to grab onto the cliff. "This cliff is too sheer… as in **_Sheer Terror!_** OW!" With a large **_KRASH!_** the two found themselves on a cliff edge that seemed to have a nest on it.

"Uggghhhhh…." Collin groaned.

"Wh…where are we? This isn't how I pictured Hedgehog Heaven to look." Sonic moaned as he looked up.

Collin grumbled as he tried to push himself up. "I don't think I'm welcome in Heaven."

"Who are you, Strangers?" came a voice.

The two boys sat up and looked in shock at an old eagle wearing a purple vest with a long white beard and a cane. " ** _An Eagle?!"_** They hadn't seen an eagle in years!

The eagle frowned. "Don't try to fool me just 'cause I'm old! I can see you're not Eagles!"

"We're the Hedgehog Cousins, and yet I'm not physically a hedgehog." Collin muttered weakly as he stood up.

"I'm Sonic, and this is my cousin, Collin. We fell into your nest by accident!" Sonic explained. "We were looking for a way to avoid some of Robotnik's bots…"

"ROBOTNIK!" The old eagle steamed. "That's the low-down snake who turned all my friends into robots! He really ruffles my feathers!"

"That's him, the duke of puke himself!" Sonic nodded.

Collin adjusted his hood to hide his face better. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but how did **_you_** manage to escape?"

The old eagle sighed. "By hiding out in the mountains like a **_Bird-brained coward!_** " He scratched his head. "The name's Cyril, and I was once the leader of a large flock… but since they were all captured I've given up flying! I'm just a tired old bird… the **_last eagle_** on Mobius."

 ** _But the cousins aren't the only ones to find Cyril…_**

"Yo, Pops! I'm picking up a faint signal from the Mobian Mountains!" Ivo Robotnik Junior, or simply Junior as he was called, noticed on the screen of a monitor.

"Excellent, my boy! There must be several non-robots hiding out together! How fortunate… for us!" The fat tyrant stood up from his chair and grinned diabolically. "Get my Tyrolean hat, Junior! You and I are going for a drive up the mountains in my latest vile vehicle… the **_RAMBOT!_** "

 ** _Later…_**

Collin was taking a look through his bag to be sure he hadn't lost anything in the fall while Sonic was giving the old eagle, Cyril, a pep-talk. "You may be old, Cyril, but it doesn't mean you should give up on life! You've got to spread your wings and fly…" Sonic exclaimed. "Then you'll feel like an Eagle again!"

Cyril raised his wings and some old feathers fell from them. "I feel more like a Mobian **_Chicken_** , but I'll try, Sonic. Here goes…" Cyril took a running leap at the edge before Collin could stop him.

"Wait!" Collin's eyes widened as he looked up in time to see the old bird jump off the cliff.

"LOOK! I can still do it! I can fly!" Cyril started out happily flapping his wings.

"Way to go, Cyril!" Sonic cheered as Collin made it to the edge with him.

"I can… EEEEEEEEEEE!" Cyril cried out as he fell, losing altitude in his flight.

Collin looked over the edge, gripping it as the cousins called out; " ** _KEEP FLAPPING, CYRIL! KEEP FLAPPING!"_** The two looked to each other nervously. They couldn't see him under the clouds below them anymore.

 ** _Soon…_**

Cyril, still alive, was huffing and puffing as he managed to land himself on a branch that was hanging off of a ledge of his mountain. "At my age, flying is **_FOR THE BIRDS!_** I've got to stop and rest!" He wiped sweat off of his **_bald_** spot. "It's no use! I may as well let Robotnik robotcize me too… maybe I'll learn to like the taste of machine oil!"

" ** _CYRIL!_** " came a shocked voice.

Cyril was even more shocked as he turned his head towards the voice. He gulped. "The end must be near! I'm seeing things!" In front of him was a small family of eagles that had been part of his flock!

"No you're not, Cyril! We're members of your flock, remember?" The female eagle asked. "We've been hiding out for years!"

"We thought Robotnik had captured you!" her mate exclaimed with glee that they had been wrong.

"Capture me?!" Cyril got back some old bravado. **_"NEVER!_** " He then smirked as he realized something. "And to think, I almost gave up! I owe a great deal to those two Hedgehog cousins!"

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

"I should never have talked Cyril into **_testing_** his wings…" Sonic sighed as he worried about the eagle. "He might have been spotted by a bot…"

"Or by Robotnik himself!" Collin grumbled as he paced. "He should have tested it on solid land, not off the edge of a cliff! He could have fallen to his death as well!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that…" came a sinister voice.

 ** _"YOU!"_** The two cousins turned to see Robotnik and his robotic son in a ram based vehicle that was set to charge right at them.

"Surprise! I would advise you not to move a muscle, boys, or my **_Rambot_** will go on a **_Ram Page!_** " He laughed maniacally. "I'm so witty!"

"Pops, I don't think we…" Junior tried to point out something as he looked over the edge, adjusting his suspenders as best as he could as well.

"Quiet, Junior! Now, tell me, Snively," Collin scowled. "Hedgehog," Sonic growled as the two stood near each other defensively. "How many of your friends are here with you, and where can I find them?"

Collin looked at Julian with a raised brow. "How stupid are you to think that we'll betray our friends?"

"Yeah, forget it!" Sonic then took a look at the fat man and his son's outfit. "And don't you think you two are a little big for that **_Pinocchio Costume?_** " Collin's face couldn't help but erupt in laughter at his cousin's comment.

Robotnik however was not so happy. "How **_dare_** you insult me!" He activated the ram head on it, which rammed the two cousins off of the cliff. "Take **_that_** , you impudent fools!"

"Pops, I…"

Suddenly two eagles swooped in, one of which being Cyril, and grabbed the two by quills and the cloak! "Don't worry, little Sonic! I've got ya!" Cyril exclaimed.

" ** _Cyril!_** " Sonic gasped with surprise as the group flew.

" ** _JUNIOR!_** The hedgehog and that runt were rescued by ** _EAGLES!"_**

Junior took an unnecessary breath, as he was a robot, and whispered to his father. "Please do not raise your voice, Pops!" Robotnik finally looked at what his son had been trying to point out and was shocked. "And try not to move until help arrives. I tried ta warn ya, pops, the cliff isn't strong enough to hold this ride…" Junior had signaled for help as soon as he had seen the imminent danger.

 ** _Soon…_**

Collin and Sonic were soon riding on the backs of the two eagles that had helped them. Cyril was plenty happy, as was Sonic. "I feel like a new bird, Sonic, thanks to you boys! Where can I drop you off?"

Collin had actually let his hood fall off when he had been rescued, but the eagles didn't question his species. He was enjoying the once in a lifetime experience of flying on an Eagle, and not being afraid of it. "Just… can you guys fly us to the Great Forest?"

"Yeah, after the day we had, we don't want to be **_dropped off_** anywhere!" Sonic agreed with a grimace.


	30. Chapter 30

The **_Lynx_** is a **_Jinx!_**

"I've got one…what?" A swatbot was confused as it lost it's captured creature to a blue blur.

"Sorry, Bot-butts! These are two animals that you're **_not_** going to turn into **robots**!" Sonic exclaimed as he grabbed a bunny and racoon from the two bots.

"The Hedgehog!"

Sonic scowled as he kept running. "I hate it when Robotnik sends his swatbots on a raid! It forces us Freedom Fighters to find the forest animals before the 'bots do! A really fun game… **_Not!_** " He skidded to a stop in front of Antoine, Sally, Tails, and Rotor. "Here are two more, dudes!"

"We have a problem, Sonic!" Antoine pointed up a tree.

"Collin's creature detector shows that there's someone high up in this tree…" Sally explained.

"But he won't get down, even though the bots are coming!" Rotor gulped.

Sonic sped up the tree. "No problem! I'll get to him with **_Tree-mendous_** speed." He got up to the branch where the animal was. It was a Mobian lynx. "Hey, you're a lynx!" Again… stating the obvious… "Better not stay here! If the bots catch you, you'll never need **_Iron_** in your diet again!"

The lynx looked unimpressed. In fact, he looked quite bored. "So what? I'm **_used_** to bad luck." The lynx explained. "I'm **_Larry Lynx - - Super Jinx_**! I bring misfortune to everyone I come in contact with."

Sonic didn't believe in bad luck. "That's **_ridiculous!_** You're coming back to Knothole with us and…" a cracking sound could be heard. "What's that **_noise?_** "

The branch they were on started to fall. "The tree branch just broke off." Larry pointed out as they fell, still not worried at all.

With a heavy crash, the branch managed to land on the remaining freedom fighters! Sonic grumbled as he tried to remain conscious. "Uh… where can I find a rabbit's foot and a four leaf clover?"

 ** _Soon…_**

All of the present freedom fighters had injuries. "I think my **_quill_** is sprained!" Sonic groaned as he rubbed his head.

Sally had her arm in a make shift sling from one of their med kits that Collin always made them take with them. "And so is my arm…"

"And my foot!" Antoine had to use a stick as a walking cane.

Rotor was holding his back. "and my back…"

Tails seemed to have it worse. "That's nothing! How do I get this **_knot_** out of my tails?" Both of his tails had a knot in the tip of it, tying them together.

Sally had to make a tough decision, and she hated those. "I'm sorry, Sonic. I'd like to be fair, but if Larry **_is_** a jinx, he could cause disaster that would mean the **_end_** of the **_Freedom Fighters!_** " The others started to walk back home. "That's a risk we can't afford to take! You'll have to find another place to hide Larry besides Knothole! C'mon, guys!"

"But Sally…" Sonic tried to plead for the poor lynx.

Larry sighed dejectedly. He understood and was used to it. "She's right, Sonic…" The two started walking. "You'd better get away from me before it's too late!"

"No way! Sonic the hedgehog **_Never_** abandons a friend…" suddenly a bunch of apples from the trees nearby, burying the hedgehog underneath them.

"Sonic! Are you okay?" Larry asked with concern. No one had ever stuck around this long before, and he didn't like anyone getting hurt.

"Sure…" Sonic groaned from in the pile. "Uh, can you tell me that bit about being a jinx again?"

 ** _Later…_**

Sonic and Larry were out in a cavernous area filled with rocks and no trees. "What you need is some good luck to break your bad luck streak, Larry!" Sonic smirked as he explained his plan for Larry. "and we'll start by finding you a safe place to live, like a cave… just not Knothole cave…"

Larry looked at his surroundings when something caught his eyes. "SONIC, LOOK!"

Sonic quickly turned towards what Larry pointed out and was shocked into worry. "OH NO!"

"Keep moving, Freedom Fighters!" a swat bot exclaimed as the four were marched along with electric collars of some sort binding them together.

"Master Robotnik is on his way to congratulate us and to meet his **_future slaves!_** " another said.

Sonic steeled himself to rescue his friends. "The swatbots have captured Sally and the gang! They're taking them back to Robotropolis to be **_Robotocized!_** "

Larry noticed the strange devices around their necks. "What are they wearing around their necks, Sonic?"

Sonic got a good look at the collars and remembered some of what Rotor and Collin had taught him. "Steel collars, held together by a **_magnetic field_** and controlled by the lead bot!"

Larry sighed in a defeatist attitude. "This is all my fault, Sonic. I'm a **_Jinx!_** "

Sonic then had an idea. "If it **_is_** , Larry, then maybe it's time we put some of that bad luck to work for us!" Larry was confused. Sonic indicated for him to get out there. "Get going. I want the swatbots to see you."

Larry sighed again in defeat. "I guess I can't blame you for giving up on me, Sonic."

Two of the robots were quick to spot him. "Another living being!"

"Get him!"

"I'll grab him, 90763!"

"No, **_I_** will, 24885!" how many bots does the fat guy go through?

*SLAM* well that's two more down.

Larry was surprised to see things working out for him for once! Sonic was amused and happy as he continued spying from behind the rocks. The last robot tried to attach Larry to the magnetic collar system. "I missed him!" The robot managed before the zap came back to him and destroyed itself.

Sonic jumped out at the last second and caught the magnetic remote holding his friends hostage. "Whoa! I caught the controls! Now to free the gang!"

 ** _"NOT SO FAST, HEDGEHOG!_** " came the booming voice of Robotnik as he drove up in a cheesy car. Sonic was prone on the ground from catching the remote, and hadn't yet gotten up. "At last, I have you right where I want you! It's my **_Lucky Day!_** " He laughed as he sped up faster and faster.

Larry couldn't stand by and watch Sonic, the first person to stand up for him and stick with him in years, get run over! " ** _Stop!_** Don't hurt my friend **_Sonic!_** "

Sonic managed to look up in shock. "Look out, Larry!" He didn't want the kid to get hurt after all.

Suddenly, without obvious reasoning, the car started to lose control. "What happened?! I've lost control! I can't steer!" Robotnik's car crashed into a nearby large rock. "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG, **_AND THAT LYNX TOO!_** " Robotnik shouted from inside of an overlarge tire.

Sonic smirked as he led his friends back to Knothole. "My plan worked, Larry! I knew that sooner or later your bad luck would bring someone else good luck…" The blue hedgehog pointed out as they passed the tyrant. "Namely, **_us_**!" He patted Larry on the back. "The bad luck streak is broken, Larry," an idea came to him, "and I know how to prove it!"

 ** _Back at Knothole…_**

"…MATE!" Larry smiled as he finished another win of chess against Rotor.

Rotor sighed with a smirk. "Larry's won fifty games of chess in a row, Sonic. I think you've proven your point!"

"Uh, just **_checking_** mates." Sonic chuckled.

Collin, who was double checking Antoine's ankle and Sally's arm, just shook his head. "How a- ** _pawn_** -ing."


	31. Chapter 31

This Island Hedgehog Part 1

Collin, Sonic, and Tails were flying in a bi-plane over the ocean, with Collin in the back seat, Tails piloting, being the quick learner that he is, and Sonic standing on the wings. Collin adjusted his goggles and felt himself at ease though, as he had a set of controls in the back for him to take control in case things went wrong. He had been teaching Tails how to fly the bi-plane for a few months now. He had already taught Antoine how to fly, and the coyote had a fear of most things. Teaching Tails had proven much easier, especially without a language barrier.

Collin was looking at the monitors when the boys got his attention. Tails had been quite surprised to find a floating island! "Now that's something you don't see every day!"

Collin looked up in mild surprise, having seen the island from afar and been told about it in his youth, never mind all the reading research he did. Sonic however was equally surprised as Tails. "You're right, Tails! We fly out looking for Robotnik's hovercraft… and we find an **_island in the sky!_** "

"What do you suppose keeps it from falling?" Tails asked as they flew around.

Collin's eyes widened as his mind clicked on something. "It's floating due to a chaos emerald, and you need to keep us away from there!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly, a rocket with an unwelcome mat attached to it, smashed into their plane!

Sonic was falling, and Tails zoomed down to catch him. "Talk about direct hits!"

"Yeah! Right on target with a rocket! What a way to greet a couple of tourists! Let's bail!" With a quick snatch from Tails, the blue hedgehog was safe, but his overlander cousin was still in the plane as it kept going down. "This is **_plane_** crazy!" Sonic looked around and realized something. "COLLIN!"

Both boys watched helplessly as they saw their plane, with Collin trying to regain control of it, go down. **_"COLLIN!_** " Both shouted as they saw him pull up at the last second, managing to soften his crash. He skidded to a halt on the island as the plane fell apart around him.

He coughed with slight shock that he was alive. He dusted himself off as he stood and dropped the control rod he had been using to steer as he looked at the pile of plane parts around him. "That… that's… how? How the why?" He was confused. That kind of crash should have killed him, not fallen apart around him! He just shook his head. "Well that happened." Truthfully, Collin felt that he had survived worse, but it was still surprising. Sonic rushed forward and hugged his cousin tightly, too happy he was alright to care about the insane way he had pulled it off. Tails joined in with a rush. Collin sighed and patted both of them on the back, assuring them that he was okay. "So much for our ticket home, eh?"

"Heh, yeah, is this anyway to run an airline?" Tails asked with a smirk as the three parted. "I hate these unscheduled stops!"

"We need to get moving." Collin sighed as he grabbed his satchel from the wreck. "The longer we stay here, the bigger chance we have of angering the Guardian." He quickly checked his bag for all of his gear and was happy to see nothing damaged or missing from the miraculous crash.

"The guardian?" Sonic asked as the two followed Collin.

"I've read books about this place. It's supposedly guarded by a family of Echidnas, passing the title of guardian down the line to the eldest of each next generation. I'm not familiar with the current guardian, but the last of the overlander texts that talked about this place were from before you boys were born, so no real surprise."

" ** _Whoa!_** " the two were impressed.

They had no idea that hidden in the nearby bushes was in fact, the guardian. He didn't much like intruders. A nearby robot came to life, trying to burn the trio. Collin was glad he hadn't worn his cloak that day, but he wished he had finished turning his sports gear into armor.

"YIPES!"

"I've heard of warm receptions, but this is ridiculous!" Sonic barely managed to jump out of the way of the flame thrower.

Tails pointed at the robot in question. "It's an assaulting batter blimp! We'd better duck and cover!"

Another blast was about to hit the boys when suddenly a green shield was surrounding Sonic. "Holy 16-bit graphics! I think I've just been covered by some sort of energy shield!" The shield looked as though it was made of a light green crystal, and Tails had one around him as well. Collin however didn't, but he was starting to look pretty pale, and it was probably a trick of the light, but he was starting to turn pale green like his shirt! "No telling how long the effect will last! Better get our feet wet while we're still able! Hit the drink, guys!"

"But it isn't even Saturday night!" Tails joked weakly as the three dived into the water.

The three regretted it immensely as soon as they hit water. The three had little to no control over where they were going and how they were dealing with everything as they were pulled by some sort of trap infested underground river. In the end, the three boys were pulled under and blacked out.

Collin awoke with a groan, a throbbing headache, and chest pains. The first to make a sound though, was his cousin, Sonic. " ** _HEY!_** Who turned out the lights?" With a click, the lights were turned back on, or at least, a single circle of light, much like a spot light, appeared. It allowed the boys to see each other even though they weren't in the light itself. "That's better! NOW, for the $64,000 question… WHERE ARE WE?"

"Exactly where I want you to be."

The trio's eyes widened in surprise. They had been sure that Robotnik had been the one to attack, since robots were his thing. "That's **_not_** the voice we all know and despise!" Sonic pointed out the obvious.

"Then… who is it?" Tails asked.

Collin managed to adjust himself into a sitting position. "I'd guess the Guardian of this island. I told you, we needed to keep away from it." He groaned.

"That's the first intelligent thing I've heard all day." Came the voice once more as a creature stepped into the light. It was a red echidna with sharp knuckles and sneakers that were fastened on. He had a white half ring of some sort on his chest and a steely gaze as he looked at his three captives. "I'm **_Knuckles_** , last of the Echidna," Collin frowned at this as his research and travels without the Freedom Fighters said otherwise, "and guardian of the **_Chaos Emerald!_** " Collin rolled his eyes as it seemed the echidna only knew about the one on the island, not any other. "My pal, Robotnik told me how you guys were plannin' to put the snatch on the jewel!" The trio's eyes widened once more. "We don't take kindly to **_trespassers_** on the floating island…" Knuckles growled. "But we **_hate_** would-be **_thieves_** even worse!

Part 2

"Looks like you were right about the Chaos Emerald, Uncle Collin!" Tails exclaimed.

Unknowing to the three captives, they were also being monitored by Dr. Robotnik and his son, Junior. "Correct, you two-tailed twit!" Robotnik snickered from the safety of a base on the island. "While that dope of a dupe deals with my hated enemies," Robotnik smirked as he turned towards his robotic son, "We shall abscond with the gem in question and use it's energies to recharge my crippled **_hovercraft_**!"

Junior chuckled. "That's pretty evil thinking, Pops! Playing the Echidna against Collin and his friends was pretty smart!"

"I know, Junior, **_I know!_** " Robotnik chuckled. "Watch carefully," He indicated back to the screen. "This is the part I really like!"

Back with the boys, Knuckles was losing his temper fast already. "That proves it! Robotnik was right! How else would you guys know about the emerald?"

Collin looked to his cousin and Tails with a bored look in his eyes. "You want to tell him, or should I explain how I already knew?"

"Both?" Sonic suggested.

"Sure, why not." Collin adjusted himself and stared at Knuckles straight in the face as best as he could from the floor. "My name is Collin, and …"

"and I don't care about your name!" Knuckles snapped.

Collin shrugged, unafraid. "And I don't care for your attitude, but I'm still going to explain myself so that you don't accidently lose everything to a tyrannical genius just like the kingdom of Acorns did." Knuckles was startled by this tiny overlander's calmness, as well as the comment he had just given. "Now, as for how I know about the Chaos Emerald from your island, I found some old texts in an abandoned city when I was younger, and they talked about the Echidnas of this island. I then looked through other pieces and found out about the myths of your island. My own research into Chaos Emeralds and power sources allowed me to come to the conclusion about the emerald powering your island."

Robotnik's eye was twitching from where he was at the young overlander's explanation. Knuckles was just dumbstruck, as were the other Mobians in the room. Sonic quickly shook his head. "That and you also just told us about the emerald like two minutes ago."

"Yeah, like **_Duh!_** " Tails nodded in agreement, having come out of his own stupor.

Knuckles snapped out of his surprise and glared at the three. "You guys are a couple of **_wise acres,_** eh? Well I'm gonna make you **_Ache_** all right…" He pounded his fist into his hand without hurting himself. "With a **_Knuckles Sandwich!_** " the boys merely glared back. Knuckles then took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a little. He smirked. "Still, we echidnas are firm, but **_fair_**! I'm gonna give you a chance to get out of my life…" He started to untie them. "And get off of my island!" He untied Tails first. "You got a ten minute head start before I come **_gunnin'_** for ya!" Knuckles then glared again. "If you aren't good and gone by then…" He slid his hand across his neck.

The boys got the message. The trio made their way out of the cave, ignoring the ancient sign that pointed out that a city named Gotham used to be nearby. "We have to find Robotnik. He'll already have the emerald." Collin pointed out as he tried to keep up with the two Mobians.

" ** _Let's Juice, Tails!_** " Sonic nodded in agreement to Sonic. "We've got to prove our innocence in ten minutes or less! Collin, head to the edge of the island. He probably won't hurt you if he sees you actually trying to get off the island." Collin slowed to a stop and frowned as the other two sped off.

He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Why does everyone always treat me like I'm an invalid?"

"They simply care, is all, young man." A new voice chuckled from the nearby brush. "You are only an Overlander after all… and still a small one at that…"

"Who's there?" Collin whipped around to face what had tried to sneak up on him, only to be shocked like a deer in headlights. "Mon Dieu!" he said, quoting his French friend, Antoine.

 ** _Back with Knuckles…_**

" ** _KNUCKLES!"_** Robotnik growled at the echidna through a two-way monitor he had activated. "Is your brain as tiny as the insects you devour?" Knuckles paused and glared at the monitor. "Those three are **_Jewel Thieves,_** not Freedom Fighters… like me!" Liar, liar, mustache on fire! "You've let them slip through your fingers! The little freak who spoke up is the most dangerous out of them." The fat man lied through his teeth, steaming at the "fairness" of the echidna.

Knuckles rolled his eyes as he looked at the monitor. "Keep your shirt on, Doc! You take care of business," Knuckles smirked. "While I **_Give_** those guys the business!"

The transmission turned off while Robotnik steamed. "Oooh, how I hate **_FREE WILL!_** The Echidna has left me little choice!" He started off towards another room with his son in tow. "Time to move up the count-down to Blast-off!" Robotnik entered another room that was littered with trash. "Swatbot XL-5, has that curmudgeonly crustacean crabmeat returned with my new power source?"

"Yes, Lord-Robotnik! He-approaches-even-as-we-speak!"

A Crabmeat bot came scuttling in with a large green chaos emerald in claw. "Your **_Chaos Emerald,_** M' lord!"

Robotnik actually looked happy. "Well done, Crabmeat! It's true what they say…" He grabbed the emerald. "With great genius comes great power!" He grinned evilly as he held the shining green jewel up to his face. "At last! All the forces of the universe in one bright, shiny, green jewel! And this time… I'll keep it!" He chuckled darkly. "I pity the hedgehog who messes with me now!"

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

Sonic was swinging on vines through the island's forest with Tails flying close by. Tails was upset. "This Tarzan stuff is for the birds… not foxes!" He grumbled as he pushed vines out of his way.

"Or Hedgehogs!" Sonic agreed.

"We know we're innocent, Sonic, but how do we prove it?"

"We're not going to, Tails!" Sonic explained as he landed and started running again. "If things run true to form, Robotnik will do it for us!"

Tails scratched his head. "Then why send Uncle Collin away?"

"Collin wasn't looking too good, in case ya missed it. In fact, I'd say he was looking a touch green…" Sonic actually thought about it a little before shaking his head. "Besides, he and Robotnik got bad blood between them, and I mean he has every right to hate the fat guy more than anyone!"

"Whoa! But…"

"Look, we also needed a ride off, and I figured he'd be better at that then trying to keep up with us, okay?" Sonic was stumbling along with his words trying to not make it seem like he wasn't as worried about Collin as he really was. Truthfully, he was terrified about the idea of his cousin getting captured and experimented on by Robotnik, or worse. Collin was the only one he knew of that the fat man loved to experiment on instead of just being robotosized.

"I get ya…" Tails grimaced. He knew that Sonic always worried about Collin, but he didn't understand why. He'd seen Collin do some impressive things when he had to.

The two were unaware that while they were talking, Knuckles was spying on them once more. "They're not leavin'!" He scowled. "Good thing I'm not the trustin' type." He started towards a secret path. "Those bums are headin' straight for the jewel! The other one must be getting their ride. This calls for drastic action!" Knuckles made his way through a secret passage that cut the trip in half. "Better hoof it through the hidden passageway and head'em off at… THE STONE?!" Knuckles cried out in shock as he made it to the pedestal of rocks that had once held the emerald. "It isn't there anymore!" He then looked over to see Sonic and Tails arriving. "You guys couldn't have taken it…" His mind racing to put together the facts. "Cuz you're only just now getting' here! Which means…" He growled. "I've been played for a sap!" He stamped his foot and looked at the two. "And nobody.. but **_NOBODY_** … plays Knuckles for a sap and gets away with it! Lead me to Robotnik!"

 ** _Soon…_**

"All aboard! Next stop…" a swatbot saluted. "ROBOTROPOLIS!"

Crabmeat smiled as it clicked its pincers. "Atomic batteries to power, Turbines to speed! The emerald has done its work well, your lordship!"

"Splendid! Ready to move out!" Robotnik held the shining jewel up to his face to examine it. "Yes… we'd best hang onto this bauble… no telling when we may need it…" the emerald was no longer in his hands after a quick *WHOOSH!* "again?!" Robotnik turned to see Sonic and Knuckles with the emerald nearby.

"Looking for this, Robo-butt?" Sonic asked as he gently tossed the emerald in his hand. "Well, look no further!"

Knuckles pounded his fists together to show he was ready for a fight. "Me and the hedgehog have come to an understandin'. We understand that you're a jerk!"

Robotnik started to steam. 'I won't lose another emerald to a blasted Freedom Fighter!' His bots all came to his side. "Get them. Get them… **_NOW!_** "

It didn't take more than two minutes to dismantle all of the bots that were in the ship, save for Junior who was already at the controls. Sonic and Knuckles were too busy congratulating themselves to notice the doctor wasn't in the room with them anymore. "Nice job!" Sonic smirked.

Knuckles had to admit that the hedgehog had some moves. "You too!" he just wouldn't admit it out loud.

Tails was the first to notice the missing person. "Uh, fellas… where's Robotnik?"

The engines of the ship startled the trio. "The engines!" Sonic gasped.

"We're moving!" Knuckles pointed out as the craft started off.

Tails grumbled as the trio of heroes jumped out. "Rats! This is **_still_** no way to run an airline!"

"Is it always this way wit you guys?" Knuckles called over the roar of the engines.

"Every day…" Sonic dived under the blades so as not to get hit. "All the time!"

With a hop, skip, and a jump, Robotnik's craft managed to fly off the island. "You may have won this round, Hedgehog, but I'll get you yet! And that echidna, Knuckles, too!"

"Good riddance to bad rubbish!" Sonic growled before looking around.

"What are you looking for?" Knuckles asked.

"My cousin. I figured he'd start putting the plane back together so we could leave."

"Huh? The overlander? Oh, so that's where he went!"

"Well yeah." Sonic rolled his eyes till he heard a smaller engine. The boys looked up to see Collin flying the small plane with two seats. "Collin!" Sonic called out, waiving his arms to get the overlander scientist's attention.

Collin didn't seem to notice at first, but he eventually turned the plan and landed in front of the three. "THERE YOU ARE! Why the blazes do you boys think you can just leave me behind all the time?" The man jumped out of the plane and took off his goggles before looking at the Mobians in front of him. "I take it that Robotnik is gone already?" He sighed, relieved that everyone was alright. He did hate getting left behind a lot still though.

"Yep." Sonic nodded as he handed Knuckles the Chaos emerald. "Try to keep this in a safer location, kay, Red?"

"I know what to do, Blue." Knuckles grimaced, grateful for the assistance, but not the jest. As the emerald was brought out into the open in front of Collin, he winced slightly, and the emerald in question glowed a little more. Knuckles and Sonic didn't seem to notice, but Tails did, and now he had questions about that shiny gem.

"Come along, kids. We need to get back to Knothole before the princess gets worried, or Rosie for that matter." Rosie was the main care taker for the children of Knothole, besides Collin and the Freedom Fighters, but she was still who they all went to for support and care. She was like an old granny for them all, and probably the closest thing to a mother that some of them knew.

Tails climbed into the seat of the plane with Collin behind him, and Sonic on the wings. Knuckles waived as they flew off. "That hedgehog's one palooka that will keep you **_Runnin'_**! Still…" Knuckles sighed. "I have this funny feeling that I haven't seen the last of those mugs!"

 ** _That night, in Knothole…_**

Collin had finished tucking the Freedom Fighters into bed and went to talk to the cousins, Rosie and Julayla Chipmunk. Rosie was the Princess' nanny, and Julayla was her teacher. Truthfully, after the fall of Mobotropolis, the two became the caretakers and teachers of all the children who had no parents. They were grateful for Collin's help with raising the Freedom Fighters, but were often concerned with him as he himself was only a few years older, and already the team saw him as an uncle or father figure. Collin, as soon as they had landed, had told the two that he needed to talk to them after the others were in bed.

Now he made his way towards the room he was supposed to meet them at. Rosie was the one to open the door. She was an older chipmunk with rounder ears than her cousin, grey hair, and had a red cloak and simple blue dress. "Ah, Collin," said the motherly figure. Her kind blue eyes looking down on the young overlander. "Come in,"

"Thank you…" Collin sighed as he steeled himself. He made his way in and saw Julayla, who was getting on in years. She had darker grey hair and was wearing a purple gown that was loose as she sat in her rocking chair. "How are you feeling, Julayla?"

"I'm fine, but you didn't call upon us to talk about my health, young man." Always to the point with that woman. "What's wrong?"

"I found some information out while on the mission with the boys today. I don't know how to deal with it yet. I need… I need to talk to you about this mess."

Rosie closes the door. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing more than usual, per say, but…" Collin took a deep breath and brought out one of his prototype shield inventions from when he was a child. It was broken, but had obviously been used before. It looked like a watch. "This is one of the shield prototypes from before… from before the fall…" The two looked at it curiously. "I gave it to someone before… before…" Collin closed his eyes to gather his thoughts. "This device saved someone's life… and…" Collin opened his eyes with relief, confusion, concern, and fear. "I…"

"What is it, Collin?" Rosie asked.

Julayla had already come to her own conclusion, knowing how long ago it had been since he had invented those shield watches. "Who did that one belong to, Collin?"

Collin grasped onto her words like a lifeline, using it to help him say what he felt was needed. "I gave this one to Ian St. John…He had a message…" Both women were shocked and looked at each other before looking back to the boy. "Long live… the Queen…" Collin looked up at them with a grimace. "And long live the Prince…"


	32. Chapter 32

Space in yo' Face Part 1

Sonic and Collin were trying their more creative sides out in the woods one sunny day. Sonic was using his spin attack to carve his friend Antoine out of wood, while Collin used a simple carving knife. The two statues were almost done, Sonic's being the larger one and more statuesque, while Collin's was more like a model or action figure one kept on a shelf. The details on both figures was almost perfectly accurate, as the heads only needed to be finished.

"Hold still while I carve your blockhead…" Sonic smirked before correcting himself as his cousin glared at him ruefully. "I mean, your head from this block, Antoine."

"How ezz zis, Sonic?" Antoine asked as he posed. Both Sonic and Collin were doing quite accurately on their respective carvings, despite the size difference, and Sonic's supposed dislike for their French comrade.

Tails noticed Bunnie and pointed out what the older boys were doing. "Sonic has found a way to combine his Sonic Spin with his artistic skills, Bunnie!" He then pointed out Collin. "And Uncle Collin is making a miniature version of him!" Collin merely gave a small nod and wave before continuing his work. "Sonic can shape a block of wood, a boulder, or even a piece of clay into a statue in seconds!" Since Tails and Collin were usually the artists of the group, Tails was pretty impressed with their work.

" ** _SONIC, STOP!_** " came a shout. Sally and Rotor came running up to them in a tizzy.

"What the…?" Sonic was startled so much that he accidently buzzed off the head block. "Sally! Rotor! You made me ruin Antoine's statue…" Sonic scowled before putting up his façade that he didn't really care. "Even if it **_is_** an improvement…"

Collin, having been used to getting sudden interruptions, merely looked up at his cousin with a curious look, noticing the pre-teen's hesitation. 'He's growing up… huh…' He then continued, unconcerned with the princess and inventor's worry, at least not physically. Mentally, he was already trying to figure out what they could be concerned about.

Rotor felt a bit bad that he had screwed up Sonic's cool statue of Antoine. "Sorry, Sonic." Tails was chuckling a little while Antoine was looking at the traumatizing image of himself without his head that was displayed right in front of him.

"Never mind that, Sonic! Rotor and I just came back from a reconnaissance mission outside Robotropolis!" Collin stopped carving and looked up at the younger Freedom Fighters now. He didn't like it when they went off near that city without him, but he knew better than to think he could truly stop them. This was a war, and peace as they had this morning was just something to take while they could. "That mad tyrant Robotnik has built an orbiting space weapon called Robostorm! It can fire a series of powerful rays at our planet," She was panicking at this point while Collin came over to the group, pocketing his tools. "And **_Roboticize_** any living being within a hundred mile radius!"

"It can also cause your TV set to only tune to infomercials!" Rotor adds in.

Collin rolls his eyes. Antoine is confused at this. "How do you know all zis, Princess?"

"We saw the space weapon and overheard Robotnik bragging about how he invented it!"

Tails growls. "He probably **_stole_** the idea from a comic book!"

Collin furrows his brow as he puts on his cloak that he had been sitting on. 'Or from the defense systems that the king had been trying to bring online before we convinced him it was a bad idea.'

Sonic growled as well. "We've got to stop this Robostorm from being launched or we're all history, dudes!"

"I have a plan…" Sally points out, "But we'll have to get past a team of Swatbots!"

"Hey, no Swat…" Sonic chuckles. "I mean, no sweat, man!"

 ** _Later, just outside Robotropolis…_**

Collin had managed to take a quick run to his room in Knothole and grabbed his green armor, which had once been his simple sports gear. He used the rocket skates to catch up to the team just outside the city as they spied on a large space machine that looked like the head of Robotnik. "Well that's going to give me nightmares…" He grumbled.

"Robotnik really loves himself! Everything he builds looks like **_him!_** " Bunnie pointed out.

Sally looked to the two cousins. "How can we get rid of all those Swatbots, Sonic?" Collin rolled his eyes which were barely hidden by the visor of his hedgehog shaped helmet.

"By moving so **_fast_** that only **_one_** bot at a time will see me! Watch…" Sonic zoomed off while Collin merely smirked and watched his cousin at work. He had learned early on that it was best to see what Sonic could do before jumping in and ruining anything by getting in his way. It didn't take too long for Sonic to have the bots chasing him. Sally lead the team in while Sonic was distracting them.

 ** _Inside Robostorm…_**

"Start sabotaging the main circuits, guys!" Sally called out as the team started messing around with the equipment in the ship. Collin and Rotor causing the most trouble right away.

"The **_Circuits?_** " Tails asked. "Oh, boy! Where are the clowns?"

Antoine rolled his eyes. " ** _You_** are the only clown around here, Tails!"

Collin chuckled. "I'd be **_Lion_** if I didn't think this was an interesting learning experience." He kept moving quickly through the computers, attempting to gather data as well.

"Speaking of **_clowns…_** " Sonic pointed out as he spotted Robotnik and Junior coming towards them. "Here comes a real **_Bozo!_** "

Collin looked up for a second while the others went over to check. "Scrap Metal!" He started to change where his attention was and started to check flight capabilities since they had mostly been focusing on destroying the Robotosizing process.

"…Yes, Junior, this is truly the nastiest, most evil, vile and beastly device I've ever invented!"

"Congrats, Pops!" Junior smirked.

"Thank you, son! Just think how the Freedom Fighters and that pest, Snively, will feel when they're suddenly Roboticized by a blast from Above!" Robotnik chuckled darkly. "That is, if they're still able to **_Feel_** anything, hahahahahahohohohoho!"

Junior noticed something as his overlander father was busy laughing. "Pops! The Swatbots who were guarding Robostorm are **_gone_** …" Robotnik snapped out of it and looked. "And the door is **_Open!_** "

"Someone is **_INSIDE!_** " Robotnik growled as he started to move. "I'll **_Crush_** them! I'll **_Annihilate_** them! I'll…" the Robostorm suddenly blasted off, covering him in soot. "I'll get a new space suit... smokey black just isn't my color!"

Junior looks at him with a small bit of amusement before reverting back to normal. "May I suggest that we pursue them, your Sootiness?"

 ** _Soon…_**

"It's cool that we escaped in Robostorm, Collin, but how can we **_Sabotage_** it while we're **_in_** it?" Sonic asked while the team were looking around. Collin and Antoine were looking at the monitors with him, being two of the better pilots. Rotor was checking through to see what they could repair that wouldn't allow the Robotosizer effects to still work. Tails and Bunnie were looking outside at the starry space outside of their ship. Sonic and Sally were standing next to Collin as he quickly learned the controls and steered the ship.

"We **_can't_** , Sonic." Collin growled. "That's why I'm trying to take us back to another part of Mobius so that we can land, take this thing apart, and then get home."

Bunnie was looking at the starry sky with wonder. "Just **_Look_** out there, Sugar! Isn't out space **_Awesome?_** "

Tails gulped as he looked around the planets. "It's kind of **_scary_** , Bunnie… I feel like we're trapped inside a giant gumball machine!"

Collin merely explained what he knew, which was part of what was keeping him calm. "Those gumballs are actually the one hundred moons and planets that orbit our planet and the sun, Tails! In the days before the days of fire, there was only one moon and a set of planets. The planets used to follow around the sun. The days of fire caused a universal problem with lack of regard towards anyone in general. I don't quite know what caused it, but I'm very familiar with the results, and ten to one says that one of my ancestors from before the days of Fire is probably to blame…" He grumbled.

Suddenly, the entire crew of the ship were tossed all over the place as they were blasted by something.

Sally and Collin were the first to recover and get up. "What happened?" Sally asked as she clutched her head. "Is everyone all right?"

"I'm okay, but this scene is upside down!" Tails groans as he is upside down.

Collin races quickly to the monitor with Robotnik's overlarge face on the screen. He ignores the crack in his helmet's visor as he looks into the black and red eyes that glare at him.

"I just drained all the power from your ship!" Robotnik gloated. "Now I'll either tow you back to Mobius and roboticize you…" He grinned deviously. "Or I'll leave you to drift in space forever!" He started to cackle as Collin's eyes widened and tried to think of a way out. He had them!

Part 2

"Sonic the Hedgehog…" Robotnik started out loudly and then addressed the others as though they barely mattered, "And the rest of you, my future slaves…" Collin growled. "Prepare for your **_Last Ride!_** "

Sonic pointed something out to Collin. "Look, Collin! The control panel says that there's still some auxiliary power left…"

Sally was already cutting him off. "Sonic, it's only enough for a short distance, we're thousands of miles from Mobius!"

Collin had already gotten an idea. "True, but if I can get us to one of those moons, we might be able to figure something out!" Collin hit some buttons and started moving fast enough that he seemed almost as fast as Sonic for a moment! "Hang on, children!"

Robotnik noticed the ship flying off towards a moon and shouted. "JUNIOR! Get after them! The Freedom Fighters are escaping! Catch them!"

Sally pointed out the planet they were heading straight towards. "That moon is straight ahead and nearest, boys!"

Tails was nervous. "I suppose it's too late to mention that I prefer striped moons to polka-dots ones!"

Collin's eyes widened in fright as he noticed something. "Scrap metal!"

The group turned to him, as that was his phrase for when something went wrong. "What is it, Uncle Collin?" Tails asked worriedly.

"Brace yourselves, children, we don't have enough power for a soft landing!" The group instantly grabbed onto anything they could. "Hold tight! We're going to crash!"

That was what had been thought. Imagine the surprise on all the Freedom Fighters when they went **_Splatt!_** Instead!

They had all been shaken up, but they were fine, nonetheless. Collin immediately started to use some of his supplies from his bag to patch up the cracks in his helmet. Sally was the first to speak up. "Whatever happened to **_crash?_** "

"We didn't crash, we sunk!" Tails exclaimed.

"Sank!" Sonic added.

"Sinked!" Antoine joined in.

"We're almost totally submerged in mud!" Bunnie gasped.

"You mean **_muck!_** " Rotor put in.

Collin quickly finished adding bandages along his armor to keep what oxygen he could in, as well as pressure. "This is the legendary moon known as **_Muckury_**! It's entirely covered with muck!" He then placed the helmet onto Tails. "You're going to need this, Tails. The air is to thin to breathe for any length of time!"

"Guess we'll have to stay together through **_thick_** and **_thin_** then, huh?"

Antoine shook his head. "No, Tails! We will have to stay here until **_I_** can think of somezing clever!"

Collin was too busy running around the ship looking for anything useful at this point before Sonic interrupted him. "Sorry, Twan…" The blue hedgehog pointed out something in the window. "I don't think Robotnik will wait that many years!"

"Worse than that, Sonic. My research on space leads me to believe that without pressurized suits, we'll only last a few minutes…" He then bit his lip with a grimace. "Some of us will perspire faster than others…" Sonic looked at the overlander with great concern as he realized that once again, the Mobian Species had a one up on his cousin. "Sonic, relax, we just have to think of a way out of this…" The ship that Robotnik and Junior followed them in just transformed into a mechanical robot with no arms. "And we should evacuate before we become a football…" He frowned and pursed his lips. He had no idea how to get out of here fast enough.

Sonic took a gamble though. He grabbed Collin's helmet and set it back on the overlander's head, making sure it was sealed before opening the door. "Hold your breath everyone!" The group had only just managed to get out and away as the transformed ship of Robotnik kicked the Robostorm.

They didn't get far before Robotnik and Junior followed them out, the two of them having oxygen tanks and pressurized suits, though only Robotnik needed it out of the two. "GET THEM!"

 ** _With the Freedom Fighters…_**

The group was doing their best to make it away from the ships through the muck. Collin was having the most trouble, despite being the only one to have a suit of any sort on. He was feeling light headed as he trudged through, ignoring his own problems though to focus on getting the Freedom Fighters back to Mobius.

The others were having trouble as well. Sally was already gasping for breath as Rotor helped her along. "We can't last very long in this thin air, Sonic!"

Rotor agreed as he pulled her out of some muck. "And we won't get far in this muck!"

Antoine even knew the correct expression! "We are in zee deep trouble!"

Tails agreed on that. "You can say that again." He groaned as he lifted his sneakers out of the muck.

Sonic was the first to spot Robotnik coming towards them in some sort of tank. "Here he comes, dudes! There must be a way to stop this guy! He's got to have a weakness!"

"Ego…" The group looked towards Collin, seeing he was barely able to stand at this point, but somehow was still going. "H…his biggest…weakness… has… has always… been… his ego…" the short overlander then collapsed, Hedgehog Armor and all, into the muck. They were running out of time!

Sonic growled in despair before he understood what he had to do. "Help Collin. I've got this." He started spinning as fast as he could, molding the muck into a shape. "I have just enough energy left for one last super sonic spin!"

The plan worked as Robotnik was soon hypnotized by what he thought to be the most magnificent thing he had ever seen; a giant version of him made out of mush! The fat man was stupid and had foolishly come closer to it just as the muck started to give way, landing on him in a large mound!

The group quickly made their way to Robotnik's ship that he had arrived in; Sonic clearing the path while Rotor carried Collin, and the rest following close behind. Junior meanwhile had to start digging his creator out of the muck. Rotor found the oxygen tanks and quickly hooked Collin up to one as Sally and the others started the take off process. Rotor had taken off Collin's helmet in order to attach the oxygen mask and was surprised to find a green light emanating from the overlander's chest. Rotor cautiously took off the rest of Collin's armor, hoping to help him with his breathing, but could find no trace of the green light that had disappeared after the Oxygen Mask was attached. Rotor decided he'd ask about that at a later date, simply happy to see their friend was breathing alright again.

Collin regained consciousness just as the group landed the strange ship, but was still quite weak. Sonic and the others brought him back to his cave and made sure he took his medicine before setting him in his bed of leaves, as the young overlander didn't really make himself a better bed.

The next morning, Collin made his way to the dining room that the Freedom Fighters ate in and grimaced as Rotor asked why no one was eating the breakfast that he had made. Sonic was the first to explain. "No offense, Rotor, but couldn't you make us something besides **_Mobian Mush_**?"

Sally agreed as she still felt queasy from yesterday's adventure. "Even Robotnik got **_mushy_** when we made him flat as a pancake!" Collin snickered quietly as he pulled out some ingredients to make biscuits.

Tails was dreaming about pancakes when Collin got their attention. "Why not we hold off on the Mobian Mush for a few days… maybe weeks? I can make us some biscuits and jam for breakfast instead."

The Freedom Fighters looked at him with relief, in more ways than one and all agreed. They even helped him to cook and clean up afterwards.


	33. Chapter 33

Tails' (and Collin's) Taste of Power Part 1

Collin felt extremely uncomfortable in Rotor's greenhouse, as his own had less… active plants. Rotor's plants however had a few very active plants… **_VERY_** active… One in particular was grabbing at both him and Sonic in ways that made Collin blush hard as he swatted at it. Sonic was just trying to get out of the tangled vines as the vines weren't doing the same thing to him.

Tails flew in and saw them. "Hang on, guys! I'll save you from that killer plant!"

Collin was even more embarrassed as he concentrated on making himself as small as possible despite the plant messing with him. The plant thankfully was only up for kissing.

"Chill, Tails!" Sonic chuckled as the plant kept kissing him, unaware of his cousin's embarrassment. "We were helping take care of Rotor's Greenhouse while he's out. Collin was watering this **_Passion Flower_** when it grabbed us." Collin finally managed to get out. He was a little shaky and felt sick now. Sonic however was simply allowed to be released by the plant. Sonic then had an idea. "But if you really want to help, little buddy, you can take over for me, and…"

Tails had heard enough and was already quite happy. "WOW! You want **_me_** to take over for you? I can't believe it! Imagine, me, Tails, filling in for my hero as leader of the Freedom Fighters! Thanks, Sonic, I…"

Sonic cut him off right there before it got too dangerous. "TAILS!" Tails stopped to look at the blue blur of a hero. "I was about to say, can you take over for me and **_water Rotor's plants!_**?"

"Oh…"

Sonic sighed. "Sorry, little buddy, but you're not ready to be a leader yet. Now I've gotta juice!" Sonic started speeding out. "Later, Dudes!"

Collin glared at his cousin's dust while Tails sighed. "One of these days, he will remember we aren't just waiting for him to save the day." Then he turned to Tails. "Come along, we'll get going. He is right though, you aren't ready yet. One day though." He ruffled the fur on the fox's head before readjusting his favorite green button up shirt. He dusted off his brown cargo pants and kicked some mud off his boots. "Let's go finish up here."

 ** _Soon…_**

Tails and Collin were getting a little hungry as they kept working. Tails noticed a piece of fruit from one of the trees and got it down for them. Collin used a pocket knife from his satchel to cut it up, not really concerned with what the fruit was at the moment. Rotor had assured him that none of the plants in his green house were poisonous or dangerous in that way. The two of them ate a half each. Collin's eyes widening shortly after as he started to regret eating it. Tails on the other hand, looked… enlightened…

 ** _Later…_**

Rotor was pretty worried that Sonic had left Tails in charge of his Greenhouse while Sonic was trying to say that Collin was probably making sure things didn't get too bad. Plus, how hard could watering plants be? When the duo opened the door, they found all the plants were at least two or three times their original size!

"YOW! How did my plants get so big?"

Tails was the first one to come into sight as he made his way over to his friends with a small bucket of fertilizer in hand. "Greetings, Fellow Freedom Fighters! It was I who caused the plants to flourish, with some help from Uncle Collin!" Both Rotor and Sonic were looking at Tails with wide eyes and a large amount of confusion. "It's quite simple, really! We created a new plant food based on the equation **_X equals the degree of sunlight times the number of chromosomes divided by the process of photosynthesis!_** "

Both boys stared stupidly at their young friend, trying to figure out what just happened. Collin walked over to them with a pained face as he held his head. "You could have warned me you had the blasted Mobian Tree of Wisdom in here, Rotor! I spent the last hour or so after helping with the plant food to label all of your plants and tools in the area so no one else makes that mistake again."

"The WHAT?!" Rotor ran off to see if the young overlander was right. "Oh man! They ate the only apple I've ever been able to grow on the Mobian Tree of Wisdom!"

"The…what?" Sonic asked, still confused.

Collin looked over to his cousin. "Basically, Tails and myself are now geniuses, not that we weren't already bright before." Then he looked to Rotor. "Tails thankfully isn't suffering a side affect of headaches from this, like I am. He is however suffering from an over inflated ego."

"Hey! I resent that remark, Uncle Collin!" Tails huffed while crossing his arms.

Collin rolled his eyes. "And I resent that my biological relatives come from monsters, but you don't hear me spouting off nonsense all the…MMMF!" He clasped a hand to his mouth, tears coming out of his eyes as he realized what he had almost said. He looked in pain.

The others were about to question him when Antoine came running in screaming for help! " ** _HELP!_** "

Sonic never took Antoine seriously when he needed help though. "Don't tell me you put your shorts on backwards again, Antoine!" Antoine was one of the few Freedom Fighters to wear a full outfit.

"No! I was scouting with Sally and Bunnie when we were ambushed!"

"Ambushed!" The Hedgehog Cousins cried out in concern. Tails was already thinking of something. "YES! I managed to get away, but Sally and Bunnie are trapped in ze high weeds by ze giant shredbot!"

"Looks like it's Sonic to the Rescue!" Sonic zoomed off with Tails and Collin right behind him.

 ** _Soon…_**

Sally was losing steam as she and Bunnie kept running. She was panting heavily as one of the giant buzz-saws came close to them. "The Shredbot is right behind us, Bunnie!"

"Keep runnin', Sugah!" Bunnie called, flattening her ears so she didn't lose them.

"I'm not part Robot like you, Bunnie!" Sally panted as she started to tire. "I can't keep going!"

Suddenly a blue blur came over to them. "SONIC!" Bunnie cried out with relief.

"Have no fear, Dudettes! I can handle that oversized weed eater!"

With a quick flash of green, Collin in his green armor skidded to a stop next to his cousin. "Don't bother, Tails wants to show off!" The short overlander pointed out to the two tailed fox as he made his way in front of the robot.

"I shall subdue that metalliferous menace!" Tails commented with a bored face as he flew up. "Excuse me, but would you care to match your rotating cutlasses against my superior cerebral skills?" The robot turned both blades towards the boy. This was perhaps the first time he felt confident by something, and the first time that Sonic didn't see his cousin panicking about Tails being in danger. "I thought you would!" Tails then counted down. "3…2…1… HA!" Tails zoomed up and out of the way of the blades. "Your blades have been rendered useless by my sharp wit! What a cutting remark!"

The girls were quite impressed with Tails as he landed in front of them. Sonic was confused. Tails was flying as fast as Sonic could run! And Collin had showed up only seconds after Sonic did! "How are you both as fast as me now?"

Collin sighed. "Sonic, seriously? I'm from a family of scientists! My biological paternal unit…" He shook his head. "I mean my biological father, was the only exception to the rule. Every other overlander was a genius scientist of some form or another for centuries… not to mention I was raised by your uncle, who was also a scientist! Don't you think I'd learn how to make something to mimic your speed if I was desperate enough?" Sonic blinked in surprise.

Then he frowned. "Didn't Uncle Chuck find you when you were two?"

Collin took off his helmet and raised a brow. "…" He sighed. "I was experimented on from a young age and I think it might have done something to make me smarter and remember more than the rest of my biological family… does that answer your question?"

"We are talking about this later, Collin."

Collin shrugged. "Sure."

Sonic then turned back to Tails. "What about you, how'd you fly that fast?"

Tails was actually quite proud of his answer. "Well, Aerodynamically speaking, I measured the wind velocity and estimated tail turbination and then I calculated the revolutions per second that would be necessary to propel my relatively diminutive body mass thru the oxygenous atmosphere of Mobius! Of course, I also took into account the variables that may occur when engaging in instantaneous bodily acceleration in reference to my respiratory system's theoretical inability to compensate for the onslaught of air molecules…"

Collin put a gloved hand on the boy's shoulder to stop him. "He concentrated on the speed of his tails and adjusted for the wind." Collin simplified. He glanced worriedly at Tails. "You're using big words that are likely to hurt someone. Your vocabulary may have increased, but don't be mean to others."

"I am not being mean. I am merely showing that I'm the superior intelligence." Collin rolled his eyes and looked to the heavens before placing his helmet on his head. "I am the obvious person to replace Sonic as the New Leader of the Freedom Fighters!" Tails flew into the air with a smug look. "So follow the leader!"

Sonic frowned before looking at his cousin. "Why isn't the fruit doing that to you?"

Collin wanted to shrink into nothingness. "Tails is used to everyone treating him like a child. He wants responsibility, but doesn't know how to handle it. I'm used to the other way around where I have responsibility, but… honestly, I wouldn't mind having a little less." He took a deep breathe. "Let's go back home. I need to re-adjust this armor so my brain doesn't blow up."

"Is your brain really…"

"No, it's an expression…"

"Oh…"

Part 2

"SONIC!" Rotor cried out as he tried to get away from a vacuuming robot. "One of Robotnik's Evil bots has found our hideout and is trying to capture me!" Collin was in the room with a wrench in hand quick enough, but he paused as he looked at the bot.

Sonic on the other hand did not. "Hang on, Rotor! I'll stop it…" He jumped in the air before Collin could stop him. "With a sonic spin…OOOF!" Sonic was surprised when he merely bounced off of the robot with a wham! He landed with a headache as Collin helped him up.

Tails came into explain things. "Sorry, Sonic, but your feeble gyrations cannot damage my Vacubot."

Collin bit his lip, slowly backing out to distance himself from Tails. He couldn't say anything out loud at the moment it seemed, as after they came back, the two had a chat, and Collin had run to his room with anger and tears in his eyes. Whatever Tails had said, was still hurting the young overlander. "I built it to do our housework, Sonic!" Tails explained with pride. "It's made of a special metal alloy that Robotnik won't be able to detect with his sensors!" Tails then showed a large medal with a one on it that was hanging around his neck. "I had some metal left over so I fashioned this badge of leadership in honor of myself!"

Collin was quivering as he started backing away even more before simply turning and running to his room. Tails had hurt him a lot it seemed! Sonic was unaware of his cousin's anguish and crossed his arms after he was standing again. "Y'know, he's beginning to get on my nerves!"

Sally tried to reason with him, as it was obvious that Collin hadn't been able to. "Tails, being intelligent doesn't automatically make you a leader! You need courage… experience…"

Tails merely tutted the princess's argument away. "It looks as though I'll have to prove my superiority once and for all…" He started to fly off for the exit of Knothole. "By subduing our Prime Nemesis!"

Collin poked his head out of his room for that. He looked more afraid of what Tails was going to do now then of Tails' attitude.

 ** _Soon in Robotropolis…_**

"Yo, Pops! A live one, coming in!"

"Excellent, Junior! As soon as it is captured be sure to Robotocize it!"

"Sure thing, Pops! As soon as he quits eluding the guards and getting through your security system with **_ease!_** "

Robotnik glared. "Is it Snively?"

"No."

"THEN THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" He growled. "No one has ever gotten inside my domain… except for that insurance salesman last month…"

Junior pulled up the screen with the image of Tails flying in. "Its that weird pest, Tails!"

"Quick! Make all the entrances Airtight! And double lock the back door!"

"Don't bother, Robotnik." Robotnik turned around to see Tails strolling in as cool as you like.

" ** _WHAT?_** "

"Let's not waste time! Because of my superior brain power, I insist that you surrender your empire to me, and… and…" Tails suddenly felt dizzy. "Um…uh…stop being such a…er…y'know…bad person…and um…let's see…" Tails was back to his normal levels of genius! He didn't stand a chance!

Robotnik didn't like how cocky the lad was, but put on his venomously sweet smile. "Why, I'll be happy to surrender! Just step forward a few paces!"

"Sure!" Tails thought he had won a big victory, "Thanks a…" CLANK! "Lot?" Tails was trapped.

 ** _Meanwhile, back in Knothole…_**

Collin rushed into the lab that Rotor was working in, just as the walrus had finished analyzing the fruit they had eaten. "Sonic, we need to move, now!"

"Huh?" Sonic looked over to his cousin. He had been trying to figure out what Tails had meant by "Subduing our Prime Nemesis" earlier.

"Tails is in trouble."

"The apple's effects only last twenty-four hours, Collin. You guys ate it yesterday, so you should be…"

"Trust me, Rotor, I am back to normal, and Tails is too! That's the crisis!"

"Huh?" Both Mobians were confused.

Collin looked at Sonic's thesauris and then back at him with a deadpan look. "Nemesis means enemy…"

It only took Sonic a few moments for that to click before he raced off. Collin put on his helmet and hit a button on his knee and elbow pads, allowing his armor to form before racing after him, leaving Rotor still confused. It only took the two heroes seconds to get into the city at the speed they were running, which was the fastest that Collin had ever gone that he could remember. He was too worried about Tails to truly marvel in the fact that he had created something that kept him up with Sonic, and how fast he was going.

The two skidded to a stop just inside as they found Tails was thankfully still in one piece and not robotosized. "My super brain got me into this trap, so I better think my way out!" He gulped, unable to move.

"Think again, my little intruder, for you are about to meet your end as a living being!"

"Press that button, Julian, and you'll doom us all." Collin sneered as he skidded to a halt right next to Tails.

Sonic took the medal off of Tails and held it up. "Tails was sent here on a death-defying mission! He was going to destroy your entire city… even if it meant destroying himself!" Sonic bluffed.

"I was?" Tails asked quietly with surprise. Collin signaled him to be quiet. The two hadn't discussed this, but it seemed once more Collin and Sonic were in the same mindset, a relief to the elder for sure.

"And how was he going to do that?" Robotnik chuckled darkly.

"With this!" Sonic indicated to the medal in hand. "This innocent looking medal is really a new mega-ton explosive! It has enough power to level Robotropolis!"

" ** _LIAR!_** " Robotnik growled. "Junior, scan that trinket and tell me exactly what it's made of!"

"You got it, Pops!"

Collin looked at the robot with a dark grimace as he took off his helmet. "Go ahead, Junior, it won't tell you anything." Junior scanned both the medal, and Collin's suit! The armor was also made of this strange metal it seemed!

Junior looked at his creator with some confusion. "I don't get a reading, Pops! They may be telling the truth!"

"NO! No! It must be a trick! Snively's too much of a coward to…"

"Excuse me? Projecting much?" Collin snickered.

Sonic raised the medal above his head. "You have five seconds to release our friend!" Sonic started a count down.

"Bah! You're bluffing!"

"…Four…"

"It's… it's a hoax!"

"Three…."

"Y…you'll never go… th…thr…through with it…"

"I will." Collin responded with an indifferent shrug.

"…two…" Sonic closed his eyes and was about to throw down the medal. "ONE…"

" ** _STOP!_** I'll release him! DON'T THROW IT!" The fat man screamed as he pushed the button. "HALP!" Robotnik cried as he ran out, Junior right behind him.

Collin pulled Tails away from the trap, as though afraid it would snap on him again. Tails hugged Collin tightly before parting and looking at both his heroes. Collin's expression softened. "You did it! How did you know Robotnik would fall for your trick?"

"That coward? Puh-lease! I know him better than anyone." Collin said with irritation in his voice.

Sonic nodded and started leading them towards the exit, knowing the fat man would likely send bots after them once they figured out the truth. "Robotnik is a coward, Tails. That's the kind of thing a leader has to know!" He then looked at his cousin. "And apparently one of our team has really bad acting skills…"

"Actually, I think I acted on par to how he's treated me. I'd rather go boom then have him experiment on me again." Collin shrugged as they continued off towards Knothole. He placed his helm back on.

"Wait, he did what?" Both Sonic and Tails were in shock.

"Race you home!" Collin took off at super sonic speed in his new armor, knowing the two would catch up soon enough. Tails hadn't forgotten how to fly fast it seemed.

 ** _Back At Knothole…_**

After an hour long lecture on leadership from Antoine, Tails felt that he had someone else to talk to. He made his way over to Collin's room and knocked on the door. "Come in."

Tails peeked in to see the overlander was looking over his armor and adjusting it. "Um… U…Uncle Collin?"

Collin put his tools down to look at the young fox. He was relieved that he was back to normal. "How are you feeling, Tails?"

"I… I think I should be asking you that… I'm so sorry…" He started crying as he flew at Collin, hugging him tightly. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, and I … I shouldn't have said all that to you… I…"

Collin rubbed circles around the boy's back, remembering word for word what the boy had said, but he didn't blame him, truly. "Tails… the reason I don't use my intelligence like that is because… well… I saw you becoming another Robotnik with the way you were acting, and …" Tails cried a bit more as he understood what he meant. "I'm sorry, I couldn't reach you. I didn't want to lose you, and yet…"

"I'm sorry I was so stubborn. I just… I just wanted some respect."

"I respect you…"

"I know… thank you…"

Collin smiled as he hugged the boy. "It's going to be okay, Tails. We're going to be fine…" Things wouldn't be the same, but they would continue and hopefully Collin was right. Hopefully they would be fine. He'd make sure that the young fox would still have a chance to show his genius, but he'd show humility too, a lesson that Robotnik didn't learn, and that Charles Hedgehog had made sure that Collin knew…


	34. Chapter 34

A Whale of a Time

Sonic, Collin, and Tails were sitting in a small red boat out in the ocean, trying their luck at deep sea fishing. The boat was named " ** _Lady Liberty"_** , as Collin had made it and he had chosen the name from an ancient book on Overlanders he once found. Collin tended to make things out of habit. He always said he had no idea where he got the know-how to build things, but he simply loved to see what happened when he tinkered.

"We haven't been fishing since that whole **_Jaws_** incident, huh, Cousin Collin?" Sonic asked as he tried to remember.

Collin grimaced. "Yes, well… I figured a boat might be safer than an old dock…" He knew it sounded stupid, but he didn't want to ruin their fun with his logic.

"Yeah, and it's way more fun!" Tails said excitedly.

The trio weren't aware that there was a submarine nearby, spying on them. In this submarine, Robotnik and Crabmeat were spying on the trio of Freedom Fighters. "Ah, look, Crabmeat. Those happy-go-lucky Freedom Fighters are on a fishing trip."

"Hehe, yeah, and they're the bait!" Crabmeat went over to some of the computers and started to activate things. "We're all ready for our attack, your lard-ship!"

"Good, let's give them a **_whale_** of a time!"

 ** _Back with our fishing crew…_**

Tails was reeling in his fish! It was pretty big. "Wowie! Look, Sonic! Look Uncle Collin! I caught one!"

Sonic grinned, "Way cool, li'l dude!"

"Hehe, very good, Tails! That's the biggest I've seen in a long time." Collin smiled at the boys' excitement. Suddenly Sonic's line was pulling hard. "WHOA! I think Sonic's is going to beat it!" Collin's eyes widened as he held onto the edge of the boat.

"It's a big one!" Tails gulped as he too held onto the boat.

"It sure is a whopper!" Sonic pulled, and with a large **_SPLOOOOOOSH!_** out of the water came a gigantic metal whale! "What the! It's a Whale?!"

" ** _Whale_** it isn't Moby!" Tails lost his pole, and his fish, in shock as the whale opened up to swallow them.

"I wonder if Pinocchio's home…" Collin grumbled as he tried to figure a way out of their predicament.

Robotnik was steering, leering out from one of the eyes as his victims were slowly swallowed by the whale. "Hehe, now this is a fishing trip! Next time I'll have to take Junior along!" He chuckled evilly. "And this is the last fishing trip those blasted Freedom Fighters will go on. Bon voyage!"

Collin suddenly had an idea as they were almost swallowed. "Sonic, take the oars, triple time!" He grabbed onto Tails and held him against the boat as Sonic did as instructed.

" ** _Whale_** you don't have to tell me twice!"

With a **_FWOOSH!_** Sonic managed to speed them out just in time! Tails managed to look up as the whale started to chase them. "I don't think he's done with us! Better speed up!"

"Yeah, **_Oar_** else we're fish food!"

"SONIC, THE ROCKS!" Collin gulped as they flew over the rocks and into the air, the whale still chasing them!

"Let's see if this guy knows how to jump!"

With a large **_CHUNK!_** And a **_PLLLOOOOOOOOMMMMFFFFF!_** The whale robot crashed, with Robotnik heaving out of the pilot window that had been one of the eyes.

Sonic just laughed as Collin and Tails got out of the boat. " ** _Whale_** look-y what I caught!"

Robotnik and Crabmeat ran off, cursing Sonic's name. Collin merely rolled his eyes while Tails grabbed the camera to take a picture of Sonic. "That was a **_Whale_** of a catch, Sonic!"

"Thanks, Tails!"

Collin smirked. "I doubt **_Whale_** top this fish **_tail_** anytime soon." Collin started to clean up after the group. 'One of these days, would it kill us to have a **_normal_** fishing trip?'


	35. Chapter 35

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Robotnik was playing with some defective Freedom Fighter Action Figures. Truthfully, they were marionettes, or rather dolls, and really broken ones too. Oh sure, they looked fine, but truthfully, they had crappy voice boxes… no, the voices sounded accurate, but the words weren't accurate. The princess Sally doll was saying dumb things such as "Math is Hard", and the Bunnie Doll was saying "My place is in the kitchen". He had made his own "Snively" doll though that made stupid whiny noises and whimpers, making him sound like a coward and an idiot. The Sonic toy had its voice box removed though.

"Sonic the Hedgehog has been a thorn in my side… but…" The villainous sexist laughed evilly. "Girls just wanna have fun!" He held the girl dolls tightly causing them to say whiny things that talked about how dumb girls were and how they should stay in the kitchen or some such nonsense. "You little ladies have given me a brilliant idea!"

"Um… Pops?" Robotnik looked up to see Junior entering the room. "Are you playing with dolls?"

Robotnik was embarrassed. "Erm, no, of course not! I'm merely plotting and scheming, scheming and plotting, you know, the usual…"

Junior didn't buy it, but he had learned to keep his mouth shut on such things. His creator was very eccentric after all. "Sure, Pops, whatever. So, what's the plan?"

"It all boils down to this…" Robotnik got up from his desk as he placed the dolls on it. "Know thy enemy!"

He walked over to a large banner that had the core Freedom Fighters on it; Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Tails, Rotor, and Collin. Collin was in his signature cloak on the banner, and looking a little surprised to be on it. At the bottom of the banner was the words "If you can read this, you're too close."

"And I know that my enemies make a formidable team, but separated, they are weaklings!" He grabbed at the banner and started tearing at it. "Once we get rid of the Hedgehog, and the other token heroes," He then held out a very impressive set of paper dolls in the shapes of Sally, Bunnie, and one in the center that looked like Collin being held by chains. "Then we are left with paper dolls, which can easily be shredded!"

 ** _Shortly after sunset…_**

Sally and Bunnie had been doing a night patrol with Collin. Collin had started to show them more of the areas he patrolled when they thought he was still in Knothole. It was starting to get dark when the trio saw searchlights. "What the?" Collin pulled his cloak tighter around him, and walked over to a tree where he pulled out a satchel with his herbs and tools in it. "That's new."

"Well looky there," Bunnie was just as surprised.

"Searchlights!" The lights were raised high into the sky, aiming to attract attention. "Wonder what all the hub-bub is about… We'd better check it out." Collin nodded and led the way through the forest, making sure the girls were with him the entire time as they ran through the darkened woods. He felt a pang in his heart as he remembered something similar, but pushed it aside to focus on the night's events and what needed to be done.

The trio eventually got into a clearing where they found a super tiny building that claimed to be a mall. "You've got to be kidding me." Collin rolled his eyes, sensing a trap right away.

"Well, kiss my grits! If'n that ain't the second smallest mall I've ever seen!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"I hope their prices are lower than Robotnik's morals." Sally snickered as they entered, aware of a chance of a trap, but not of where. They certainly didn't expect it to be right on the other side of the door, that was for sure. The trio were dropped through a trap door into the basement. "I've heard of basement bargains…"

"But ah didn't know ya had to fall into the basement to get them!" Bunnie shrieked as they fell through the chute.

Collin had a sinking feeling in his chest. The three of them were quickly picked up after hitting the ground and were held. The girls were held with their hands behind them by one robot each whereas Collin had two robots holding him up and exposed as though for someone to beat him. It didn't take long for Robotnik to come in. Collin gritted his teeth.

"Ah, good evening, ladies… and Snively."

"My name is Collin. You know this. You're not **_that_** stupid. **OOF**!" That comment had earned him a sucker punch to the gut by the fat man himself. The wind was knocked right out of the short man.

"Shut up, Snively. Learn your place." Robotnik then turned to the princess and cyborg. "Sonic may be the brawns, and this freak may be the brains, but you two make excellent bait." He grabbed Sally by the face and mocked her. "All you two can do is wait around to be rescued." He then let go and turned to Collin. "While this freak gets to play our favorite game of 'Lab Experiment!' Mwahahahaha!" Collin's blue eyes widened as his pale skin went paler if possible. The girls had never seen Collin so scared before.

Collin swallowed his fear and growled though. "I knew you were racist, but I didn't realize you were also a sexist pig, uncle." The pain in him causing him to forget who was in the room. Bunnie's eyes widened before hardening into a glare. " **OOF!** " With another punch to the gut and a knock to the head, the young overlander was unconscious, his skin seeming to turn a faint green, but no one really noticed it.

"You pig!" Bunnie snarled. She used her robot arm to throw the swatbot that was holding her over her head.

Sally managed to slip out of the grasp of the one holding her, and a quick sharp kick knocked the bot back. "We're more than capable of protecting ourselves, and our own." She growled.

"Time to raise some consciousness…" Bunnie slugged one of the bots that was holding up Collin.

Sally threw the other bot over her head. "and lower the boom!"

Robotnik's eyes widened as his swatbots were destroyed by these two teenage girls he had thought of as weaklings. Collin was slumped on the floor, his cloak covering him, and still out cold. Robotnik made to grab for Collin, only for him to grab an empty cloak! "Wha?"

"Don't mind me, I'm enjoying the show." Collin was sitting up on one of the pipes above the fight, holding his stomach and occasionally rubbing his head. "What? You think I wouldn't take the chance to get out of those bots grasp as soon as the girls knocked them down?"

"You were knocked out! COLD!"

"Meh," Collin shrugged. "We've survived worse." He was making notes on the girls and their capabilities. "Found your toys..." He showed the dolls that were defective of Princess Sally and Bunnie. He also held up the doll of him with a deadpanned look. "This is disturbing, even for you, by the way." Robotnik's face went red as he stuttered and stumbled upon his anger.

"What a workout!" Sally smiled as she and Bunnie trashed more of the bots that kept coming after them. "How are you holding up, Bunnie?"

"It ain't **_how_** I'm holding up, it's **_what_** I'm holding up!" Bunnie chuckled as she threw a bot over her head. "An' throwin' out!"

After a few minutes, the girls were done with the bots. "That was fun." The two girls high-fived.

"Yeah! Sonic usually **_hogs_** all the fun!" Bunnie smirked before they remembered Collin. "Collin?"

"I'm up here." He looked tired, but he was fine otherwise, merely tinkering with the strange dolls the fat man had. He smiled at them. "Not bad, girls. I'm glad you had fun. It is getting late though, so why don't you **_wrap_** this up?" He indicated to the fat man and some ribbon near him.

"Right!" The girls turned back to Robotnik with death glares and tackled him before tying him up. They had to hurry before more bots than they could handle would show up. They left a sign saying that the mall was going out of business and another that said not to untie him until X-mas. "There we go."

Collin hopped down, though more clumsily than usual. He picked up his cloak and sighed as he tossed the three dolls over to Robotnik. "Frankly, I don't know why I'm giving you back your dolls, but I suppose I'm just nice like that. I even fixed them up for you too." He smirked as he activated the Princess Sally Doll.

"Never Underestimate the Power of a Princess!"

The Bunnie doll responded with "Girls can do anything!"

Then, just to annoy the fat man more, he activated the Collin doll. "I'm not dead yet." This voice was a bit of a taunting one.

The trio made their way out the door just as Junior entered the room and noticed his creator was tied up. "Um… what was that about shredding paper dolls?"

"Shut up, and untie me!"

 ** _Later back at Knothole…_**

An adult duck was running around a room in a lab coat while Collin was rolling his eyes, having been brought to Knothole's only real doctor, Dr. Horatio Quack, after having been knocked out by Robotnik earlier. The girls had been worried about him, which, was touching, but nevertheless, Collin insisted he was fine. Dr. Quack was a white mallard (duck for those who don't know) and had a touch of a bedside manner, but he and Collin worked together to keep Knothole healthy while facing Robotnik.

"Honestly, Dr. Quack, I'm fine. I just got knocked on the head and two punches to the gut. Nothing too bad considering what he did to me the day he took over the kingdom…" Collin tried to calm the elder.

"And yet, this was what got you unconscious, Collin. I don't even know how you survived that day!" Horatio pointed out. He finally found what he was looking for it seemed. "Here it is!" He pulled out a small pill bottle and looked in it. "I just want you to take a couple of aspirin really, Collin. I know those berries you keep eating help you out a lot, but the girls were really worried. One day, those berries might not be enough to keep you going… and don't think I'm not aware that you ran out of your other medicine…"

Collin sighed as he accepted the medicine. "Yeah, well… it wasn't an ideal situation…" Collin muttered. "As for my other medicine, we can't afford to keep making it for me. I'll be fine. We need the supplies for other things…"

"You know I hate it when you sacrifice your health for a good cause… and when you're right too…"

"You'll get over it, Dr. Quack…"

 ** _Over with Sally and Bunnie…_**

"Sally…"

"Yes, Bunnie?"

"Did y… ah, must be crazy because I thought… I… ah thought that I heard Collin call Robotnik his uncle earlier…" The bunny looked over to her friend who had the expression of being caught in the headlights.

"Oh! I didn't realize he had even said that! It must have slipped. He's usually more careful about that." Sally suddenly looked embarrassed while Bunnie thought about this.

"Huh…" Bunnie shrugged. "No wonder he hates Robotnik then. How is poor Collin related to him anyway?"

"Robotnik is his real biological uncle. Uncle Chuck just adopted him before knowing about it, and when he found out, Robotnik said that Collin would be better off with Charles. That was probably the only time he did something good for Collin." The two of them went back to talking about better things, but now, Bunnie knew the truth about Collin's human family, and she silently promised to help protect him from that kind of abuse.

That night, Collin was only wary of sleeping with a concussion, rather than with fear of a nightmare where his friends hated him because he was related to the enemy…


	36. Chapter 36

Animal Magnetism

Robotnik and Junior were looking through some video footage of the Freedom Fighters. Junior finally found the only real video they had on Bunnie Rabbot, the southern belle cyborg of the team. "Junior, I have an idea on how to bring the complete downfall of the entire Freedom Fighters, using Snively's armor, and that half-robot, Bunnie." He grinned evilly.

Junior smirked back. "Alright then, let's get started."

 ** _Later, in the Great Forest…_**

"Are you sure its safe to have an outdoor Barbecue, Sonic?" Tails asked as he set the picnic table. It was a nice, sunny day, perfect for a picnic.

"Sure! Sally and 'Twan are watching the skies for Robotnik's ships!" Sonic smiled as he helped Collin with the grill he had made of hot stones since Rotor was using their large stone grill for a pot. "So, what's cooking anyway, guys?"

"I'm just cooking up some chilidogs for you boys and a couple of things like that." Collin shrugged as he prepped the food. He was wearing his cloak that day, though only because he didn't feel like wearing his armor all the time. It needed some fine tuning anyway, and the armor was warm in the summer sun anyway.

"And Since you guys don't like my Mobian Mush, I'm trying something new…" Sonic looked in Rotor's pot and instantly regretted it. "Barbecued Mobian Mush!"

Collin raised a brow. "Right… cooking lessons for Rotor gotta start, otherwise Antoine, Sally, and myself will be the only ones able to cook at this rate."

Bunnie came along with a metal ladle in hand. "Here's the ladle you asked for, Rotor." Only for it to be pulled by an invisible energy out of her hand. "Huh?!"

Rotor's pot as well as the grates from the grills went flying. "Duck everyone!" the walrus shouted.

"There goes the mush!" Sonic noted as the pot spilled while flying.

"What's happening?" Bunnie cried out as she felt herself being lifted off as well.

"It looks like everything made of metal is flying away, Dudes!" Sonic realized.

"No kidding?" Collin had already undone his cloak and had managed to tie it to Bunnie and himself. He grabbed a passing tree as the metal that made up Bunnie's robot half started to send her flying.

"HELP!" She cried while holding onto the cloak.

Collin's grasp slipped and he lost hold of the tree. "Little help here!" He called out as the duo flew through the woods.

"Something's pulling them towards the edge of the Great Forest!" Sonic noticed as he started after them.

"Talk about a **_Hare-_** raising experience!" Bunnie's eyes widened as she realized she was flying.

Collin merely gritted his teeth and tried to brace himself for another nearby tree should the opportunity arise again.

"I'd better juice and get there before Bunnie and Collin do." Sonic sped off, barely passing the duo when he saw one of the largest robots ever.

Inside of the large red robot with a giant magnet on the front of it, was Robotnik and Junior! "My **_Magnabot_** is a great invention, Junior! And once I've captured the rabbit and Snively, the other freedom Fighters will try to rescue them…"

"And we'll catch them all, Pops!" The punk like robot grinned.

Sonic eyes widened in shock. "It's one of Robotnik's giant 'bots! And it's got a super electromagnet!"

"THANK YOU FOR STATING THE OBVIOUS, SONIC!" Sonic turned and saw Collin and Bunnie holding onto a large tree, which, thanks to Collin, tied the two of them together so quickly, the cloak was helping them to hold on. "This won't last forever!"

"Sonic, we can't hold on much longer!" Her lower half was still being pulled by the magnet, as was her right arm. Collin was barely holding the two of them down as he was, along with the help of the tree.

"Right! I've got to find a way to eliminate the magnetic field!" Some metal can hit him on the head, which gave him an idea. "I've got to watch out for flying metal… wait… flying metal… That's it!" He grabbed a flying trash can lid and ran just out of the boundaries of the magnet's field. "Yo, Robotnik!" He called, getting the attention of the two in the giant robot. "Don't tell me you built that hunk of junk to catch one little rabbit and a small overlander? Why don't you try to catch me?"

"It's Sonic, Pops! He's got a metal object, but he's out of the magnet's range. Should I widen it now, and catch him?"

"NO! Wait till I say so, then turn the bot around quickly and crank up the power!"

"C'mon, Robotnik! I'm making it easy for you!" Sonic teased.

"Now?" Junior asked.

"Not yet!" Robotnik snapped back.

"Okay, have it your way, Crude Dude! I'll just stroll on back home…" Sonic turned. Collin managed a small grin as he saw what Junior and Robotnik were going to miss.

"NOW, Junior! Turn the field up full force, and get him!"

"He's moving, Pops, but I've got him in sight!" Junior responded.

Robotnik finally saw the danger as the robot kept moving. "WAIT, Junior! Don't follow him! STOP!"

"Missed me!" Sonic chuckled as he sped away, dropping the metal lid as he went to check up on Bunnie and Collin.

"Oh, NO!" Robotnik howled as a large number of metal objects of various shapes and sizes came towards them. "He got us to face Robotropolis… and everything made of metal is heading our way!" The magnet bot was covered in various pieces of junk from his own city. "Junior… they did it again… I… I…"

Junior sighed as he started the shut down sequence. "I know, Pops. You **_hate_** that hedgehog…"

Meanwhile, Bunnie, Collin, and Sonic were walking away. Collin readjusted his cloak as they went while Sonic chuckled. "Let's go, guys. When Robotnik digs his way out, he can hold a junk sale!"

 ** _Back in Knothole…_**

Rotor was just finishing up coating Bunnie in a special liquid solution. "I'm coating you in a special solution, Bunnie! Now, no magnet will be able to attract you!" Rotor grinned.

Bunnie sighed in relief. "Thanks, Sugah… but ah never thought ah'd want my magnetic personality to be unattractive!" She joked. Everyone joined in on the laughter, relieved that it had all turned out so well. Collin took what was left over of the solution for his armor.


	37. Chapter 37

*Warning* Heavy Trigger warnings for abuse at the end of this chapter. Robotnik is a monster of a jerk after all.

Hedgehog Under Glass Part 1

The Freedom Fighters stood in front of a burning Robotropolis. Robotnik had been defeated. Now peace could return to the world. Sally cheered as Rotor set up a camera in front of Sally, Tails, Antoine, and Sonic. "Sonic the Hedgehog has won the war against Robotnik!"

"So what are we," Antoine grumbled, feeling unappreciated. "Zee cannon foddaire?"

Rotor smiled as he held up the flash powder camera he had found. "Say 'Cheese!'"

Sonic just grinned. "Mozzarella!"

With a large ka-boom, the picture was taken, and Rotor looked to be covered in smoke and dust. Ordinarily, a small human/overlander would have been there to take the picture or dust off Rotor, but he didn't appear as he would have. "Whoops!" Rotor chuckled. "Too much flash powder."

"I can't believe we've beaten Robotnik!" Tails shouted with glee.

"Hey, was there any doubt with me on the team?" Sonic smirked, feeling like he was forgetting something, but it wasn't bothering him too much at the moment.

Sally smiled happily, wondering what to do with all their free time now. "It's almost too good to be true!" She felt a small nagging feeling that she should be worried about something though.

"So?! Where do we go from here?" Antoine asked with a huff, also feeling something was missing, but not quite being able to put his finger on it.

 ** _After what seems like months…_**

"Shake a leg, Sonic, or you'll be late for your own wedding!" Tails called.

Sonic rubbed his head before adjusting his tie. "Shame I'm the groom, cause I'm obviously the best man!" Sonic joked. 'Collin… you'd say I was too young… where are you anyway?' Sonic had finally realized that his cousin wasn't at the scene, and he felt a gut clenching feeling in him as he worried about the human. He pushed it off to get to his wedding.

With Sally, Bunnie was helping her with her dress. "Ah declare, Princess, if y'all ain't the prettiest bride!"

"Do you really think so, Bunnie? This gown… doesn't seem to… fit quite right…" Sally frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror and could almost see a shadow in a cloak behind her that was shaking it's head. When she turned around, all she saw was Bunnie.

Antoine was sitting in his hut, grumbling about how the princess would be better off marrying him. Something in him reminded him that Collin Hedgehog would have commented on how they all were too young for this nonsense.

At the wedding, Rotor was playing the part of officiary. Sonic smiled as he looked at Sally in her dress. "If only Robotnik could see us now! He'd be so angry." Sonic chuckled.

"Oh, but I can see you, my little blue friend! I can see all of you!" came the dark laughter, just out of the Freedom Fighters ear shot. Tapping on glass was a gloved hand as it watched the events. "Trapped like a fly in a web… by my most fiendish plot to date!" Robotnik laughed as he and his robotic cronies watched the images of the Freedom Fighters in a glass dome while their bodies were in tubes nearby! "I've finally got the hedgehog right where I want him!" Robotnik chuckled darkly as he leered closer to the dome. "Under Glass!" The mad tyrant looked at his mechanical hench-bots with glee and pride. "My **_Master Plan_** was a model of insidious simplicity! So simple, even the hired help couldn't mess it up! As Easy as ABC even!" He started reminiscing on how he had done it. " ** _A_** : Lure Sonic and the Freedom Fighters to Sleepy Hollow under false pretenses…" He had used a Free Chili Dogs sign sending them all to Sleepy Hollow. " ** _B:_** Fill Sleepy Hollow with Sleeping Gas…" Scratch and Grounder had used the sleeping gas from behind a bush. Collin Hedgehog had almost caught them as he had been coming to warn the Freedom Fighters of it being a trap, but had been too late. He had spotted his downed friends and was about to attack the robots, but was too late to do anything, as the gas had gone through his cloak that he had tried to use as a mask. Robotnik had been very pleased about this result. **_"C:_** and, it was good night sweet hedgehog! With the Freedom Fighters in La-la land, it was child's play to move the slumber party to Robotropolis…" He looked at the containers that had the sleeping Freedom Fighters inside, save for Collin, who was strapped to a table with sleeping gas/oxygen mask taped over him. "Where they'll sleep to their hearts content… forever!"

Crabmeat was confused though. "Why don't we just dispose of them and be done with it?" He was eyeing Collin and Sonic especially, as the two Hedgehog cousins were quite dangerous.

"Because, dear Crabmeat…" Robotnik grinned creepily. "What I have in store is **_far_** more evil…" He indicated to the complex machines hooked up to Sonic and the majority of the Freedom Fighters. "and much more fun! Now, after fitting Sonic, and his playmates, with these special virtual reality helmets, and plugging them into my main computer, we'll force-feed them their fondest wishes and wildest dreams with my new exclusive **_User-Friendly Program!_** " He then looked at the unconscious overlander who was strapped to the table. "As for Snively, well… I've already started something with him, and I fully plan to finish it… after of course, I start up my war machines to destroy everything. Since Sonic and his friends are in a new reality that is better than life, they can't tell the difference and have no **_reason_** to **_escape!_** Ooooh, I'm such a genius, I even scare myself! But enough fun and mind games! Time to get down to business! There's a whole wide world left to conquer…" Robotnik flipped a switch, turning on some mechanized spiked bulldozers. "And my war machines are more than up to the task! They shall roll over the face of mobius, crushing anything and anyone in their way!" He started to laugh darkly. "Those who survive shall be robotosized… and my dream of a perfect, ordered society shall come to pass… save for that piece of chaos under glass!" He gave a fake sigh as he walked out of the room. "Alas, perfection has its price!" He marched out happily with the mobile table that Collin was on, planning on harming his poor nephew, no doubt. "Make sure you turn off the light on the way out, Crabmeat!"

 ** _Back in the dome…_**

The wedding was getting to the "I Do" part when things started getting funky. Robotnik's user friendly program was just too friendly. Antoine had somehow ended up as the groom of the wedding and the program was glitching. A door even appeared and out of it came a blue hedgehog with a white mustache and white eyebrows who was wearing an old workman's jacket, and a small dog with brown and yellow fur.

Sonic was quite confused. "Uncle Chuck? Where's Collin? How are you here? And… derobotosized? How is this all possible?"

The blue hedgehog in question chuckled. "Everything is possible in the user-friendly world of virtual reality!" Sonic's eyes widened in shock as his mind realized that if that was the case, then Collin wasn't with them! They were all in real trouble!

Part 2

The world glitched again, and Chuck and Muttski the dog were now sitting upside down. "What's wrong, Sonic? You look confused."

"I **_am_** confused, Uncle Chuck!" Sonic groaned as he looked around. He felt like he had been put into a wonky piece of art, what with all the melting clocks around him. "Antoine gets the girl! I'm a janitor at my own wedding! Collin's missing and no one's worried! You're **_not_** a **_robot!_** And these melting clocks are driving me crazy! What I **_need_** are some easy answers!"

"Easy enough!" with a pop, the world looked like normal and Chuck was standing in a booth that was labeled "Free Easy Answers!" The old hedgehog smirked, "Ask away!"

 ** _One free easy answer later…_**

Sonic was angry. "So that's it! I should've known! If a world looks to good to be true, it probably isn't! That means you're not the real Uncle Chuck! Just a remarkable simulation!" Sonic turned towards a blank area. "Time to learn if this place is as **_User-friendly_** as it seems!" He snapped his fingers. "Bingo!" A terminal popped up. "Now to reach out and touch someone." Sonic started typing away quickly, hoping to be fast enough for his needs. "Let's see what good ol' doc Robotnik is up to out in the "real" world!" What he saw made him recoil in shock and disgust. " ** _OH MY GOSH!_** "

Collin Hedgehog was strapped to a table, his shirt open, a sleeping mask that had some oxygen was strapped to his face, and in his chest, not only was there some heavy scarring and bleeding, but there was a chaos emerald in it! And it was glowing a sickly green as it was attached to a machine! Robotnik was sitting and watching a computer screen that had his war machines flattening the forests!

"Collin's hurt bad! And Robotnik's machines… flattening all of Mobius! We've got to stop him!" Sonic turned to see his friends were happy in this life though, weird as it was. "But all my friends are so happy here! UGH! Is it right to force them to leave?" He then looked at Chuck and Muttski. "And I've finally got Uncle Chuck and Muttski back, or at least a couple of reasonable facsimiles… but it would cost me Collin and the rest of the world! UGH! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!"

The virtual version of Charles Hedgehog just smirked. "Hehe, I don't need to tell you, nephew. You already know!"

Sonic nodded and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah! You're right! I do! Time to get hacking!"

 ** _Meanwhile, in the outside world…_**

The sleeping gas had stopped feeding into Collin Hedgehog. He was still out of it, but he would soon awaken, and no one would notice right away. Robotnik was too busy worrying about the sudden change of his war machines on his screen. "WAIT! The war machines have reversed course! **_I didn't order this!_** "

The screen started to glitch with the words "Do not adjust your reality!" reading across it. "You didn't, but **_I_** did!" came Sonic's voice.

"Wha?"

The screen cleared up to reveal Sonic wearing 3-D glasses like for movies. "I control the tint, I control the contrast… but most importantly, I control your war machines, Doc!"

"Ye gads! Sonic to the max!"

"They're handy gadgets!" Sonic's screen split to show the war machines coming towards Robotropolis. "No homeowner should be without one! They slice, dice, grind and flatten entire cities, if need be!" Sonic glared now at Robotnik. "So if you don't want a free demonstration, you'd better free the Freedom Fighters and Fast! Including Collin, fatso!"

"That blasted Hedgehog! He's left me no choice!" He pushed a few buttons. "Junior, take Snively down to the Freedom Fighters before we're destroyed."

Junior showed up and lifted his limp overlander cousin easily, though he had to lose the bloody and torn shirt to do so properly. He carried the unconscious overlander down over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes while the virtual reality program dumped the others.

"SPLOOSH!"

"WHOA! Better than the Zoot-chute!" Tails rubbed his head as he woke up.

"Ugh! I've been slimed!" Groaned Sally. She looked around for Sonic and Collin. "Where's Sonic and Collin?"

Sonic appeared on a screen. "Don't you worry, never fear! One final task…" He made the war machines crash into each other… "And I'm outta here!"

As the Freedom Fighters ran out, Sally and her group ran into Junior. "I believe he goes with you." Junior said in a neutral voice. Sally's eyes widened in shock at the condition poor Collin was in.

"What the… what did you do to him!?" She was horrified. Antoine himself barely managed to not puke at the sight, and Tails was just shocked. The young group had never seen Collin so beaten looking, so pale, so… injured and almost literally green! His shirt was off, showing a lot of scars on his body, as well as blood that was starting to dry on him, not just his chest where the emerald was horribly sticking out of him, but also on his arms and back as though someone had tried to cut him up like a dissection project.

Junior shrugged as Rotor took Collin from him and cradled the small overlander, as though to protect him from further harm. "I know pops tried to get the emerald out of him, but that's about it other than hooking him up to a machine to try and drain him of the emerald's energy… I think that things been in him for longer than I've been built, sorry." With that, Junior went to go clean up the mess he knew would be upstairs.

The group soon met Sonic outside. Sally was the first to greet him, as Rotor was holding Collin while Antoine checked him over. The sleeping gas still had been affecting him. "SONIC! You're here! I was afraid you might stay behind forever!"

Sonic screeched to a stop. "Virtual reality is a nice place to visit Sally, but I wouldn't want to live there… at least on Robotnik's terms!"

"What about Uncle Chuck?" Tails asked with concern.

Sonic looked at him and then at the unconscious overlander in Rotor's arms. "I'll get him back… and when I do… it'll be for keeps! Come on, let's get Collin home."

 ** _A few hours later, in Knothole…_**

"Ugghhhh…" came the groan of an overly pale overlander with shaggy brown hair as he sat up in his leaf bed. "S…Sonic? S…Sally? Ch…Children?" He looked around slowly, feeling dizzy. Just before he could fall back onto his bed, a hand caught him and steadied him.

"Easy, cousin. I got you." Collin's blue eyes met Sonic's green. Collin sighed in relief. "How ya feeling?"

"Tired… sleep gas… at sleepy hollow… so… painfully obvious…" Collin wheezed.

"Yeah, that one's on me… sorry." Sonic winced as how pitiful Collin sounded.

"We got out?"

"Yeah, we got out…" He leaned Collin against the side of his cavern wall. "Collin… what happened to you…?"

"What do you mean? I don't r…remember after getting to the hollow…" Collin was having a little trouble getting his thoughts together. Sonic gave him a razzleberry. "Thanks…" Collin ate the berry with no complaint and some of his wounds started to heal up in front of the hedgehog, but not all… it was terrifying for him to not be able to remember something though.

"Collin… you have a giant chaos emerald in your chest… right where your heart should be… and you have horrible scars all over your body…"

"Oh…" He looked down and spotted the green glowing emerald that usually was hidden under his skin. It was surrounded by a thin layer of blood and skin now as the Razzleberry and the emerald started to seal him back up and cover the jewel again. "Huh… so that's where that went…heh… man, Julian must be annoyed with me…" Collin looked to be in a daze, as though he wasn't really thinking about what he was saying. He didn't even look at the scars, as the emerald held his attention more.

"Collin…" Sonic had a serious face. "This isn't funny. What happened to you…?"

Collin managed to look at Sonic, though he still felt dizzy. "If you… you must know… Journal 1, month six… I'm sorry, Sonic… I… I'm still…"

"That's okay, get some rest… I'll find it…" Collin nodded as he laid back down on his bed of leaves. He'd be out again for some time. When he woke up, he'd be disgusted and horrified with himself for letting Sonic read that particular journal; the first and earliest recollections he had, and the first proofs of Dr. Robotnik's true evil, and of the pain that was Collin's life without the Hedgehog Family. Sonic would call on Dr. Quack to check Collin over better since the boy was able to wake up now.

Sonic raced over to Collin's private library and found the journal Collin was talking about. His eyes widened like saucers after only a few pages and he slammed the book shut. "No wonder he doesn't talk about that stuff… or usually let us look through it… jeez…" He looked back towards Collin's room with some fear and amazement about his adopted cousin. "Just how much hell has he faced to live this long?"


End file.
